Apple Estimates Tariffs To Cost $900 Million This Quarter, Shifts iPhone Production to India

Tech giant Apple recently revealed two pieces of important news concerning both consumers and investors, as the BBC reported. Not only did CEO Tim Cook indicate that President Donald Trump’s ongoing tariffs — particularly concerning China — would cost the company about $900 million throughout the current fiscal quarter, but he also shared that production of U.S.-bound iPhones, iPads, and Apple Watches would be moving away from Chinese factories.

Perhaps in response to Trump’s repeated calls for industry players, including Apple, to make investments stateside, Cook emphasized to investors on a May 1 call that the company plans to invest about $500 billion across a number of U.S. states over the course of the next four years.

US-Bound iPhones To Be Made in India, While iPads and Apple Watches To Be Sourced From Vietnam

In a significant shift in manufacturing, Cook also indicated that Apple would be shifting the majority of its production of U.S.-bound products away from Chinese facilities.

“We do expect the majority of iPhones sold in U.S. will have India as their country of origin,” Cook said, continuing on to suggest that Vietnam would now be responsible for producing “almost all iPad, Mac, Apple Watch and AirPods product sold in the U.S.”

One issue with such a massive move in production: the expense attached to doing so. Citing Shanti Kelemen, chief investment officer at M&G Wealth, the BBC indicated that Apple’s announced move could cost the company billions to execute — and that tariffs would still not be entirely evaded.

“There will still be tariffs that impact the supply chains [for Apple] and a cost to move them and build new factories,” Kelemen told the outlet.

Despite the ongoing macroeconomic turbulence involving tariffs, dipping consumer sentiment, and growing personal debt, Apple remains relatively unfazed. According to the tech company, revenue for the first three months of 2025 ticked upward by 5% versus year-ago figures, reaching $95.4 billion.

Shifting of iPhone Supply Chain to India Deemed ‘Impressive’

At least one analyst felt that Apple’s pivot to move iPhone production from China to India was “impressive.”

The BBC quoted Patrick Moorhead, chief executive of Moor Insights & Strategy, on the matter.

“This is a marked change from what [Cook] said a few years back when he said that only China can build iPhones,” Moorhead said.

“There is lots of progress that Apple must show here but it’s a pretty good start,” he added.

As for Cook, he summarized the move concisely in recent remarks.

“We have a complex supply chain. There’s always risk in the supply chain. What we learned some time ago was that having everything in one location had too much risk with it,” he said, per Sky News.