Apple is boosting its iPhone inventory in the U.S. and attempting to beat recent tariffs by airlifting more than a million iPhones from India to the U.S. in the past month.
Since March, Apple has reportedly shipped about six cargo jets containing iPhones from India to the U.S., with the latest shipment going out this week, per Reuters. Each jet has a capacity of about 100 tons, with the total cargo for all six amounting to about 1.5 million iPhones.
Apple fast-tracked the shipments, successfully lobbying Indian airport authorities to reduce the time needed to get through customs at local airports from 30 hours to six.
Earlier this week, President Donald Trump levied 26% tariffs on imports from India but later paused the tariffs for India and nearly 60 other countries for 90 days. Trump has not paused tariffs on China, Apple’s main manufacturing hub, instead raising duties for the country to 125% on Wednesday. Apple shares still grew by 15% on Wednesday following the news of the 90-day pause, adding $400 billion to Apple’s market cap.
Related: ‘Everyone Is Here Because of the Fear’: Customers Rush to Apple Stores to Buy iPhones Before Expected Tariff-Related Price Increases
Airlifting iPhones from India is Apple’s way of responding to tariffs by building an inventory of iPhones in the U.S., per Reuters.
In short, Apple “wanted to beat the tariff,” a source told the outlet.
Apple manufactures 90% of its iPhones in China, though it also has factories in India, Vietnam, and Thailand, per CNBC. Apple is aiming to assemble more than 50 million iPhones in India by 2027, which would allow the country to eventually account for about 25% of global iPhone production.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Apple is projected to build 25 million iPhones in India this year and predicts that if all of those phones were sold in the U.S., they would meet half of Apple’s usual demand in the country.
Apple has not yet raised prices on iPhones in response to tariffs, though UBS analysts predicted earlier this week that prices for Apple’s highest-end iPhones could jump by as much as $350. According to Bloomberg, the company has inventory on hand in the U.S. that it has already imported, and it will likely register the impact of tariffs starting in July, in its fourth quarter.
Apple sells more than 220 million smartphones per year, with the U.S., China, and Europe as its largest markets. It is the most popular smartphone vendor in the U.S., with a 52% market share.
The company had a market cap of $2.8 trillion at the time of writing.
