What Apple's big bet on India means for the tech giant's future

It took 7 years for Tim Cook to sojourn India again aft traveling to the fast-growing state successful 2016. In April, the Apple CEO visited New Delhi and Mumbai to unfastened two flagship stores, 1 successful each city.

"Apple CEO Tim Cook really traveled to India earlier this twelvemonth to beryllium successful attendance for the opening of those 2 stores retired successful India, mostly due to the fact that of the monolithic accidental that helium sees retired successful India," said Angelo Zino, a elder expert astatine CFRA Research. "In galore respects, we are believers that India is going to correspond a akin accidental to China, and they besides benignant of correspond precise akin markets successful nature."

Apple has been manufacturing older models of iPhones successful India since 2017. In 2022, the institution began making the iPhone 14 successful India, which was seen arsenic a large displacement successful its manufacturing strategy. That year, astir 3.5% of the world's iPhones were made successful India. Apple yet wants to manufacture 25% of the world's iPhones there. 

"The large origin down Apple's determination to diversify their accumulation was they saw the interaction of immoderate of these disruptions successful China that had to bash with their Covid zero argumentation and a designation of however susceptible they were if they didn't person benignant of a broader proviso base," said Willy Shih, prof of absorption signifier astatine Harvard Business School. "Without that broader proviso base, they had accumulation shortfalls which impacted their sales, which they mightiness not person suffered arsenic overmuch had they had aggregate sources."

Moving much iPhone manufacturing from China to India sounds similar a bully thought connected paper. In the existent world, it's plagued with superior challenges — uncovering talent, gathering retired infrastructure and navigating a patchwork of regulations. Apple declined CNBC's petition for comment. 

Watch the video supra to find retired wherefore Apple is betting connected India and the challenges it faces arsenic it dilatory shifts its manufacturing basal from China to India.