Apple is conducting early manufacturing of the iPhone 17 — the purported successor to the iPhone 16 that was launched earlier this year — at a factory in India, according to a report. It is expected to be the first time that the Cupertino company is conducting its product development outside China. Over the past few years, Apple has been working on diversifying its supply chain by producing recent smartphone models in regions like India and Vietnam, but it remains dependent on China for most of its manufacturing.
Citing two people aware of the company's plans, The Information reports (via 9to5Mac) that Apple is conducting early manufacturing work, or the process of turning an early design developed at Apple Park into a commercial product, at an unspecified factory in India. As part of this process, called new product introduction (or NPI), Apple tests equipment and processes to incorporate new hardware upgrades (or new designs) ahead of mass production.
This development is in line with TF Securities International analyst Ming-Chi Kuo's prediction in November 2023. At the time, Kuo had claimed that Apple would begin the early development of the iPhone 17 — expected to arrive in the second half of 2025 — in India instead of China.
While Apple has been producing recent iPhone models in India and other countries, the decision to start early production of the iPhone 17 in India is significant because of the complexity involved in the process. The company usually conducts its NPI for upcoming products in China, between October and May, according to the publication.
Apple's decision to diversify its supply chain outside China started before the COVID-19 pandemic, and the company started to assemble its handsets in India starting with the iPhone SE in 2017. Back in 2022, the iPhone 14 series production in China briefly took a hit, following a pandemic-related shutdown at a Foxconn plant in China. The company also reportedly began producing its Pro models in the country this year, starting with the iPhone 16 Pro.
