&w=3840&q=100)
India overtakes China to become world's top smartphone maker for the US
Vietnam, home to most of Samsung Electronics Co's production, ranked second. In contrast, China's share of estimated shipments plummeted from over 60 per cent a year ago to just 25 per cent.
Apple's India manufacturing push
The shift is a result of Apple increasing its manufacturing capacity in India, alongside broader efforts by smartphone makers to 'frontload device inventories amid tariff concerns,' Canalys researchers wrote. The number of smartphones manufactured in India more than tripled compared to the same period last year.
Although Apple's iPhone shipments to the US fell by 11 per cent, this decline was attributed to earlier-than-usual bulk shipments.
India-made iPhone output rises to $22 bn
Apple assembled iPhones worth $22 billion in India in the 12 months ending March, marking a nearly 60 per cent rise from the previous year. Most of these devices were produced at Foxconn Technology Group's facility. Tata Group's electronics arm, which recently acquired Wistron Corp and oversees Pegatron Corp's operations, has also become a major supplier.
Trump seeks manufacturing jobs in US
Apple and other technology companies have been gradually moving production away from China to reduce risks associated with tariffs and rising geopolitical tensions. India and Vietnam have become prominent alternatives in this strategy. This shift has drawn criticism from US President Donald Trump, who has been urging firms to bring manufacturing jobs back to the United States. Despite its global diversification, Apple continues to manufacture most of its iPhones in China and has no smartphone production in the US. However, the company has committed to hiring more domestically and investing $500 billion in the US over the next four years.
China disrupts Apple's India expansion efforts
Apple's shift towards India has not gone unnoticed by Chinese authorities. The Chinese government has reportedly taken steps to undermine Apple's competitive advantage abroad. Around a year ago, it delayed approvals for machinery Apple needed to import for iPhone production in India.
In a more recent move, Chinese Customs indefinitely withheld machines required for retrofitting assembly lines to manufacture the forthcoming iPhone 17. Additionally, Beijing pressured Foxconn to withdraw over 300 Chinese engineers and technicians from its facilities in India. These experts were initially deployed to assist with technology transfer and worker training.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Mint
6 minutes ago
- Mint
Will Trump's tariff war push India closer to Russia and China?
Trump 2.0 was expected to be good for India. But after early promise, ties have unexpectedly soured. Mint examines the sudden reversal, what India should do next, and whether recent developments could strengthen the Russia-India-China (RIC) axis. 1. Has the India-US relationship hit a low? Yes. On 27 June, US President Donald Trump announced a 25% tariff on goods imported from India, along with an unspecified penalty for New Delhi's continued defence and energy trade with Russia. His rhetoric stung even more than the tariffs. Trump accused India of having some of the 'highest tariffs in the world" and 'the most strenuous and obnoxious non-monetary trade barriers." The next day, he escalated further, saying that Russia and India 'can take their dead economies down together." Simultaneously, Trump is cosying up to Pakistan, finalizing a trade deal with Islamabad last week. 2. What triggered Trump's anger? Experts point to several factors. India's reluctance to open up its agriculture sector during trade talks has frustrated Trump. Some believe that the tariff hike may be a pressure tactic to force broader market access. His ire over India's energy and defence ties with Russia is also strategic: it's seen as part of a larger bid to pressure President Vladimir Putin to end the war in Ukraine. Trump, some believe, now realizes he was outplayed by Putin. He is also suspicious of India's growing alignment with BRICS, which he views as an anti-Western bloc. He fears BRICS could start a common currency that could rival or replace the US dollar as the standard currency. Another, more personal factor: India did not credit Trump for helping de-escalate the brief India-Pakistan conflict earlier this year. Pakistan, in contrast, publicly acknowledged his role. Trump is reportedly miffed that India didn't nominate him for the Nobel Peace Prize. 3. How has India reacted? Though caught off guard by the sudden downturn in the bonhomie, India's response has been restrained. The government has said it will protect national interests while continuing bilateral trade negotiations in good faith. The Ministry of External Affairs emphasized that the India-US partnership is rooted in shared interests, democratic values, and strong people-to-people ties—and has weathered turbulence in the past. 4. Will Trump's actions push India close to the Russia-China axis? That would require a fundamental shift in India's foreign policy, but some experts don't rule it out. Trump has once again unsettled a friend (India) while courting an adversary (Pakistan), which has hit a nerve in New Delhi. Last week, China publicly backed a Russian proposal to revive the RIC trilateral mechanism, calling it crucial for regional and global stability. 5. Could a thaw in India-China ties help? Possibly. After the Galwan Valley clashes in 2020, India-China relations froze. But recent months have seen attempts at normalization, including ministerial visits and a meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping at the BRICS summit in October 2024. 6. What should India do? Most foreign policy experts advise caution. India's ties with the US extend beyond Trump's presidency and should not be derailed by short-term volatility, they say. While a stable relationship with China is welcome, they caution that it remains a strategic rival. India, they add, must work to resolve trade irritants and ensure a mutually beneficial agreement with the US. It should reiterate its commitment to a multi-aligned foreign policy and emphasize its long-standing ties with Russia, even as Moscow's share in defence supplies has declined in recent years.
Economic Times
6 minutes ago
- Economic Times
Exporters seek assistance, credit at affordable rates to deal with Trump tariff
Indian exporters from various sectors, including food, marine, and textiles, have sought financial assistance and affordable credit from the government to cope with the 25 per cent Trump tariff, industry officials said. In a meeting with Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal in Mumbai, certain exporters sought plans on the lines of the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme, they added. "Exporters share issues, which they may face in the American market because of the high duty announced by US President Donald Trump," one of the officials said, adding that the minister has suggested that the exporting community send their suggestions in also demanded loans at affordable rates and fiscal India, according to exporters, interest rates range between 8 and 12 per cent or even more, depending on the spread and risk assessment of the borrower by authorised dealer banks. In competing countries, the interest rate is very low. For instance, the central bank rate is 3.1 per cent in China, 3 per cent in Malaysia, 2 per cent in Thailand, and 4.5 per cent in Vietnam. The situation for sectors like apparel and shrimp is not good. US buyers have started cancelling orders or are holding back orders. In the coming months, it can impact India's exports to the US, and because of a dip in shipments, there could be job losses," they said, adding that it will be difficult for the government to extend fiscal 25 per cent duty, announced this week, will come into force from August 7 (9.30 am IST). These will be over and above the existing standard import duty in the sectors, which would bear the brunt of this high tax, include textiles/ clothing (10.3 billion), gems and jewellery (12 billion), shrimp (USD 2.24 billion), leather and footwear (USD 1.18 billion), chemicals (2.34 billion), and electrical and mechanical machinery (about USD 9 billion).The US accounts for over 30 per cent of India's leather and apparel to think tank GTRI, quick estimates suggest that India's goods exports in FY 2026 may come down by 30 per cent from USD 86.5 billion in the last fiscal to USD 60.6 billion in Sekhri, Chairman, AEPC (Apparel Export Promotion Council), last week requested immediate government intervention to offset this huge setback."Exporters have their back against the wall and will have to sell below cost to keep their factories running and avoid mass layoffs," he has exporter from Delhi NCR region Arvind Goenka said that exports to the US will face stiff competition from competing countries as tariffs on India are one of the highest."The USA has fixed substantially lower tariffs on countries like Vietnam (20 per cent), Thailand (19 per cent) and South Korea (15 per cent), all of which excel in plastic goods production, and they may encroach into India's share, which currently is USD 2.2 billion annually," Goenka said. India's leading footwear exporter and Farida Group Chairman Rafeeq Ahmed said the government should come forward to help the industry before a trade pact is finalised between India and the US.
Time of India
6 minutes ago
- Time of India
Charting the global economy: US job market wavers in cue for Fed
Live Events Bloomberg Bloomberg Bloomberg Bloomberg Bloomberg Bloomberg Bloomberg Bloomberg Bloomberg Bloomberg Bloomberg Bloomberg The US labor market is wavering after a slowdown in economic growth during the first half of the year — implications of heightened uncertainty tied to trade Donald Trump unveiled a slew of new tariffs that boosted the average US rate on goods from across the world, forging ahead with his effort to reshape international commerce and bolster American manufacturing. The baseline rates for many trading partners remain unchanged at 10% from the duties Trump imposed in of a sluggish job market and the risk of a reacceleration in inflation due to higher import duties are dueling forces dividing Federal Reserve officials over the path of interest rates. In the wake of a weak jobs report on Friday, Treasury yields declined on bets the Fed will lower interest rates as soon as September after keeping them unchanged this Canada, central bankers left interest rates unchanged, while keeping the door open to more cuts if the economy weakens and inflation pressures stay in check. The Bank of Japan also held the line on borrowing are some of the charts that appeared on Bloomberg this week on the latest developments in the global economy, markets and geopolitics:Job growth slowed sharply over the past three months and the unemployment rate rose in July, showing the labor market is shifting into a lower gear amid widespread economic uncertainty. Not only is job growth cooling markedly and unemployment rising, it's harder for unemployed Americans to get a job and wage gains have largely stalled. That poses further risks to a slowdown in consumer and business spending that's already growth moderated through the first half of the year as consumers tempered their spending after a late-2024 splurge and companies adjusted to frequently shifting trade policy. While gross domestic product increased at a solid 3% annual rate, final sales to private domestic purchasers, a narrower metric of demand, rose at the slowest since the end of activity contracted in July at the fastest pace in nine months, dragged down by a faster decline in employment as orders continued to shrink. A measure of employment slid to the lowest level in more than five years, suggesting producers are stepping up efforts to control costs amid higher tariffs and softer euro-area economy unexpectedly eked out growth in the second quarter, benefiting from better-than-predicted performances in France and Spain. Gross domestic product increased 0.1%. While the results suggest some resilience in the 20-nation bloc at a time of heightened uncertainty, they mask economic contractions in Germany and Italy, the region's biggest and third-largest European Union leaders work through the consequences of their new trading arrangement with the US, they are confronting the bitter reality of just how far they have fallen. Even with the unpalatable terms, the EU may struggle to deliver on its new commitments to the of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda kept investors guessing over the timing of his next interest rate hike with comments that cooled expectations of a near-term move and weakened the yen. The BOJ kept the overnight call rate at 0.5% at the end of a two-day policy meeting in a widely expected unanimous Commands A Big Share of Global Manufacturing | Its share of global manufacturing value added is almost 30%China's top leadership emphasized its determination to reduce excess competition in the economy, with President Xi Jinping endorsing a campaign targeting one major cause of deflation and tensions with trade said Thursday he would impose a 25% tariff on India's exports, before following through a day later, and threatened an additional penalty over the country's energy purchases from Russia. India is weighing options to placate the White House, including boosting US imports, and has ruled out immediate retaliation, according to people familiar with the global trade war that Trump unleashed from the Rose Garden that afternoon shook investor confidence in the US economy so much that it sparked a stampede out of the dollar. Much of that money has flowed into other developed countries but billions have washed up in developing nations, reviving a market that for more than a decade had been relegated to a mere afterthought in investing economic activity unexpectedly fell for the second month in June as a plunge in mining offset gains across other sectors in one of Latin America's richest Grows More Than Forecast in Second Quarter | GDP rose 0.7% from 1Q; output climbs 0.1% from year agoMexico's quarterly economic growth came in higher than expected in the three months through June as manufacturing and services powered Latin America's second-largest economy despite US an average of 15%, the world is still facing some of the steepest US tariffs since the 1930s, roughly six times higher than they were a year ago. Trump's latest volley outlined minimum 10% baseline levies, with rates of 15% or more for countries with trade surpluses with the US. The months of negotiations, marked by Trump's social-media threats against US allies and foes alike, ended with new rates that were largely in line or lower than those on April world economy will keep weakening and remains vulnerable to trade shocks even though it is showing some resilience to Trump's tariffs, the International Monetary Fund said. Its updated projections are slightly better than those in April, but largely reflect distortions such as front-loading in anticipation of addition to the US, Canada and Japan, central bankers in Pakistan, Georgia, Singapore, Brazil, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Malawi and Eswatisi held interest rates steady. Chile, South Africa and Mozambique cut rates. Ghana lowered borrowing costs by the most on record.
