India overtakes China in smartphone exports to the United States
India has surpassed China to become the largest source of smartphones shipped to the US for the first time in Q2 of 2025, marking a major shift in global electronics manufacturing
According to Canalys' data, smartphones assembled in India accounted for 44% of U.S. imports of the devices in the second quarter, a significant jump from just 13% last year.
Data
The data showed that Vietnam ranked second, while China's share fell from over 60% a year ago to just 25%, as Apple shifted more iPhone assembly to India.
'India became the leading manufacturing hub for smartphones sold in the US for the very first time in Q2 2025, largely driven by Apple's accelerated supply chain shift to India amid an uncertain trade landscape between the US and China,' said Sanyam Chaurasia, Principal Analyst at Canalys.
'Apple has scaled up its production capacity in India over the last several years as a part of its 'China Plus One' strategy and has opted to dedicate most of its export capacity in India to supply the US market so far in 2025.
ALSO READ: Trump warns China 'not getting off the hook' on US tariffs for electronics
Trump threatens Apple
Trump has threatened Apple with additional tariffs and urged the company's CEO Tim Cook to make iPhones domestically, a move experts have said would be nearly impossible as it would push iPhone prices higher.
He initially said the tariff would apply only to Apple—an unusual move to single out a specific company in trade policy.
However, the US president later expanded the threat to include all smartphone makers.
'It would also be Samsung and anybody that makes that product, otherwise it wouldn't be fair,' Trump told reporters in Washington, adding that the new tariffs would take effect by the 'end of June'.
While many of Apple's core products, including iPhones and Mac laptops, have received exemptions from Trump's 'reciprocal tariffs,' officials have warned that it could be a temporary reprieve.
Dependent on China
Apple has begun manufacturing and assembling Pro models of the iPhone 16 series in India, but is still dependent on established manufacturing bases in China for the scaled supply needed for Pro models in the US.
Samsung and Motorola have also increased their share of US-targeted supply from India, although their shifts are significantly slower and smaller in scale than Apple's.
Motorola, similar to Apple, has its core manufacturing hub in China, whereas Samsung relies mainly upon producing its smartphones in Vietnam.'
ALSO READ: Huawei's R70k Mate XT smartphone now available in SA
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