India Surpasses China as Top Smartphone Exporter to the U.S., Driven by Apple’s Shift

India has overtaken China as the top exporter of smartphones to the United States for the first time, according to a new report by research firm Canalys.

In the second quarter of 2025, India-made devices accounted for 44% of all smartphone imports into the U.S., a sharp increase from just 13% during the same period last year. Meanwhile, China’s share dropped to 25%, down from 61% a year ago. Vietnam now holds second place.

The report attributes India’s surge to Apple’s accelerated shift of manufacturing away from China, a strategy driven by escalating trade tensions between Washington and Beijing.

“Apple has scaled up its production capacity in India over the last several years… and has opted to dedicate most of its export capacity in India to supply the U.S. market so far in 2025,” said Sanyam Chaurasia, principal analyst at Canalys.

Although smartphones and other electronics containing semiconductors are exempt from the harshest reciprocal tariffs, Apple CEO Tim Cook noted earlier this year that iPhones made in China still face a minimum 20% tariff. Cook said in May he expects “the majority of iPhones sold in the U.S. will have India as their country of origin.”

The manufacturing shift reflects a broader trend among global companies looking to diversify supply chains after years of trade tensions, rising tariffs, and China’s pandemic-era zero-Covid policy, which disrupted global production.

U.S. and Chinese negotiators are currently meeting in Sweden to discuss extending a tariff truce agreed to in May, but the uncertainty has already prompted companies to look to other countries like India and Vietnam for production.

Credit: CNN Newsource

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