Apple CEO Tim Cook told investors in a second quarter earnings call that the company will import the bulk of its phones for the American market from India.
Most iPhones and other Apple products bound for the American market will no longer be made in China, Apple CEO Tim Cook said on May 1.
The majority of the iPhones heading for the United States in the coming months will be made in India, while Vietnam will be the main production point for products such as iPads and Apple Watches.
During a call with investors discussing the tech giant’s second-quarter results, Cook was asked about how the company planned to adapt to the new U.S. tariff regimen, which significantly targets Chinese-manufactured goods.
“For the June quarter, we do expect the majority of iPhones sold in the U.S. will have India as their country of origin and Vietnam to be the country of origin for almost all iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, and AirPods products also sold in the U.S,” Cook said.
Trump has imposed a 145 percent tariff on Chinese goods shipped into the United States, which experts say would have increased the cost of iPhones and other Apple products.
However, the White House provided temporary exemptions to a range of electronic devices and components imported into the United States last month.
Cook said that China would “continue to be the country of origin for the vast majority of total product sales outside the U.S.”
“We have a complex supply chain. There’s always risk in the supply chain,” he said. “What we learned some time ago was that having everything in one location had too much risk with it.”
He also said Apple has started to create a stockpile of products so that the majority of its devices sold in the United States this quarter will not come from China.
The tech giant currently makes more than 90 percent of its products in China.
By Guy Birchall
