It is possible for Apple Inc to move iPhone production to America, but it would almost double the cost of making the device while creating logistical headaches, according to Bank of America (BofA).
“iPhone cost can increase 25 percent purely on higher labor cost in the US,” BofA analysts led by Wamsi Mohan wrote in a note to clients on Wednesday.
While the tech giant can find domestic labor for assembly, a “significant portion” of parts used in manufacturing the iPhone would still be assembled in China and imported to the US, they added. Assuming Apple has to pay reciprocal tariffs on those imports, its total cost would rise 90 percent or more, they estimated.
Photo: Hector Retamal, AFP
The estimate comes as US President Donald Trump zeros in on China for his trade fight. The Trump administration paused its reciprocal tariffs on dozens of countries for 90 days, but increased its duties on China to 125 percent. Meanwhile, China slapped 84 percent retaliatory levies on American goods.
Fear of price increases spurred iPhone panic buying last weekend, while Apple chartered cargo flights to ferry 600 tonnes of iPhones, or as many as 1.5 million, to the US from India, in an effort to beat Trump’s tariffs, sources told Reuters.
For Apple to make relocating its final assembly of iPhones to the US viable, it would need tariff waivers on components and sub-assemblies manufactured outside of the country, Mohan wrote. However, he doesn’t see this happening.
“Unless it becomes clear as to how permanent the new tariffs are, we do not expect Apple to take the step of moving manufacturing into the US,” Mohan said. “We do expect, however, that Apple will continue to diversify its supply chain, and also increase production of iPhones in other countries such as India.”
As Apple diversifies its manufacturing beyond China, it has positioned India for a critical role. Taiwan’s Foxconn Technology Group (富士康) and India’s Tata Electronics Pvt Ltd, its two main suppliers there, have three factories in all, with two more being built, Reuters reported.
WEAKER ACTIVITY: The sharpest deterioration was seen in the electronics and optical components sector, with the production index falling 13.2 points to 44.5 Taiwan’s manufacturing sector last month contracted for a second consecutive month, with the purchasing managers’ index (PMI) slipping to 48, reflecting ongoing caution over trade uncertainties, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. The decline reflects growing caution among companies amid uncertainty surrounding US tariffs, semiconductor duties and automotive import levies, and it is also likely linked to fading front-loading activity, CIER president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) said. “Some clients have started shifting orders to Southeast Asian countries where tariff regimes are already clear,” Lien told a news conference. Firms across the supply chain are also lowering stock levels to mitigate
Six Taiwanese companies, including contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), made the 2025 Fortune Global 500 list of the world’s largest firms by revenue. In a report published by New York-based Fortune magazine on Tuesday, Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), ranked highest among Taiwanese firms, placing 28th with revenue of US$213.69 billion. Up 60 spots from last year, TSMC rose to No. 126 with US$90.16 billion in revenue, followed by Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) at 348th, Pegatron Corp (和碩) at 461st, CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) at 494th and Wistron Corp (緯創) at
NEGOTIATIONS: Semiconductors play an outsized role in Taiwan’s industrial and economic development and are a major driver of the Taiwan-US trade imbalance With US President Donald Trump threatening to impose tariffs on semiconductors, Taiwan is expected to face a significant challenge, as information and communications technology (ICT) products account for more than 70 percent of its exports to the US, Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) said on Friday. Compared with other countries, semiconductors play a disproportionately large role in Taiwan’s industrial and economic development, Lien said. As the sixth-largest contributor to the US trade deficit, Taiwan recorded a US$73.9 billion trade surplus with the US last year — up from US$47.8 billion in 2023 — driven by strong
ASE Technology Holding Co (ASE, 日月光投控), the world’s biggest chip assembly and testing service provider, yesterday said it would boost equipment capital expenditure by up to 16 percent for this year to cope with strong customer demand for artificial intelligence (AI) applications. Aside from AI, a growing demand for semiconductors used in the automotive and industrial sectors is to drive ASE’s capacity next year, the Kaohsiung-based company said. “We do see the disparity between AI and other general sectors, and that pretty much aligns the scenario in the first half of this year,” ASE chief operating officer Tien Wu (吳田玉) told an
RSS