New Delhi, May 28 || As Apple ramps up its India manufacturing plans, iPhone exports from the country to the US surged 76 per cent (year-on-year) in April, according to a new report.
According to latest estimates by market research firm Omdia, nearly 3 million ‘India-made’ iPhones were shipped to the US in April.
In comparison, iPhone shipments from China plummeted by a massive 76 per cent to just 900,000 units.
This marks the first time India has consistently outpaced China in supplying iPhones to the American market, according to a report by CNBC, citing the data.
“Apple has been preparing for this kind of trade disruption for years. The April spike likely reflects strategic stockpiling ahead of tariff hikes,” Le Xuan Chiew, research manager at Omdia, was quoted as saying in the report.
The demand in the US for iPhones is around 20 million per quarter at the moment.
A ‘Made in US’ Apple iPhone can cost a whopping $3,500 (more than Rs 2,98,000) in absence of a fully-integrated supply chain in the country.
Dan Ives, global head of technology research at Wedbush Securities, told the CNN recently that the idea of fully domestic iPhone production is a “fictional tale.”