India surpasses China, becomes top iPhone exporter to US: Report
New Delhi/IBNS: India has surpassed China to become the largest exporter of iPhones to the United States, a report by market research firm Omdia said.
As per the reports, the latest estimates showed that nearly three million iPhones manufactured in India were shipped to the US in April.
Meanwhile, China shipped just 900,000 units, which is a massive decline of 76 percent.
The developments, however, come at a time when US President Donald Trump has warned Apple of a 25 percent tariff if it manufactures iPhones in “India or anyplace else.”
"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 report also comes days after Trump strongly objected to Tim Cook's plans to expand production of the brand's products in India, flagging the tariff issue.
"I said to him, my friend, I am treating you very good. You are coming up with $500 billion, but now I hear you are building all over India. I don't want you building in India. You can build in India, if you want to take care of India because India is one of the highest tariff nations in the world, so it is very hard to sell in India," Trump had said.
"They (India) offered us a deal where basically they have agreed to charge us literally no tariffs. I said Tim, we are treating you really good, we put up with all the plants you built in China for years. We are not interested in you building in India. India can take care of themselves," the US President had said.
Apple and its major suppliers have been shifting operations away from China—an effort that accelerated following pandemic-induced disruptions and rising geopolitical tensions between the US and China.
Cook has aimed at relocating Apple's manufacturing from China, after it was hit by Trump's tariff war.
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