2 weeks ago
Adam Tooze: Apple's India Manufacturing Shift Falls Short of Transformation
A smart historian named Adam Tooze talked about Apple making iPhones in India.
For a long time, people thought Apple would always make most of its phones in China.
Tooze said the idea of making phones in India seemed 'laughably implausible.'
But Apple did it anyway, bringing money and Chinese experts to India.
Now Apple makes lots of smartphones in India.
However, Tooze says this hasn't changed India's economy very much.
Indian experts say the phone factories haven't created as many jobs as people hoped.
Tooze also wonders why India makes fewer clothes than Bangladesh.
Apple is moving more iPhone making to India partly because of US taxes on imports.
By the end of 2026, Apple wants to make most of the iPhones sold in America in India.
Historian Adam Tooze discussed Apple's manufacturing shift to India on his Ones and Tooze podcast for Foreign Policy.
Tooze said establishing an Apple supply chain in India once seemed 'laughably implausible' but has now become reality.
Apple built substantial smartphone production lines in India using significant investment and Chinese technical talent.
Tooze and Indian experts argue the expansion has not generated jobs or transformed India's economy on a larger scale.
Apple plans to make most iPhones sold in the US in India by end of 2026, partly due to US tariff policies under Donald Trump.
- Who
- Historian Adam Tooze, Apple, and Indian experts such as Subramanian
- What
- Discussion of Apple's manufacturing shift to India, which has established substantial smartphone production lines but not yet delivered broad economic transformation or expected job creation
- Where
- India, China, the United States, and Bangladesh
- When
- Discussed recently; the shift began in 2025, with plans to manufacture most US-bound iPhones in India by the end of 2026
- Why
- Apple sought to diversify its supply chain beyond China and respond to US tariff policies under Donald Trump
Supply-chain transformation view
Economic impact critique
Apple's India manufacturing success
Supply-chain transformation view
Apple has successfully established substantial smartphone production lines in India, marking a major supply-chain change that many thought impossible.
Economic impact critique
The expansion has not spawned a dramatic transformation of India's economy or employment landscape at a larger scale.
Job creation
Supply-chain transformation view
Apple's manufacturing growth signals India's rising role as a critical manufacturing partner for global tech.
Economic impact critique
Indian experts like Subramanian point out that jobs 'are just not there' at the scale that might have been expected.
Broader manufacturing ambitions
Supply-chain transformation view
Smartphone manufacturing shows India can host high-tech production lines.
Economic impact critique
India's share of garment production remains smaller than Bangladesh's, which Tooze describes as 'bizarre.'
Key facts
- Speaker
- Adam Tooze, historian
- Platform
- Ones and Tooze podcast for Foreign Policy
- Apple's plan
- Manufacture most iPhones sold in the US in India by end of 2026
- Shift began
- 2025
- Manufacturing partners
- Foxconn and Tata
- March iPhone shipment
- Around 600 tonnes worth approximately $2 billion to the US
- US tariff on India
- 26% imposed in April last year
- Key concern
- Limited job creation from smartphone manufacturing growth
Quotes
Adam Tooze
Historian and Foreign Policy podcast host
“"It was probably laughably implausible that they could establish a supply chain in India. And by importing a lot of money and an awful lot of Chinese technical talent, they have actually set up now substantial smartphone production lines in India."”
firstpost.com
“"Many of us were skeptics, including myself. This is the idea that, you know, Apple was forever fated to do most of its smartphone manufacturing in China."”
firstpost.com
Sources
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