In the midst of the major trade war between the US and China, Apple has shifted production of their newest iPhone model, the iPhone XR, to India. India has a rapidly-growing economy, expecting to eclipse the US by 2024, becoming the country with the second-highest nominal GDP in the world. As per such, India is a large market for iPhones; thus, manufacturing the phones in India is a major boon for their economy as it helps increase production in the nation and makes the sale of phones more convenient for Indians. Because the phones are now being produced in India, the price on them in Indian rupees goes down, allowing more Indians to be able to purchase the phones. 

The phones, which are produced at a factory in Chennai, are “part of Apple’s intentions to bring the production of all its premium iPhone models to the Indian subcontinent,” as per India Today. “Making the newer iPhones in India helps Apple avoid the 20 [percent] import duty it has to pay to the Indian government. Hence, it makes it cheaper for Apple to make these phones in India and even export [them] to global markets.” 

The phones will reportedly be imported to Europe, but there is currently no word out as to whether or not they will be sold in North America.

India has been pushing for manufacturers to push production to their country following the trade war. “‘India will be more attractive, particularly in the light of what is developing between the US and China’, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal,” according to 9 to 5 Mac. 

The US-China trade war has been going on since July 2018, but its severity intensified this year. According to China Briefing, this was when the US first began “collecting a 25 percent tariff on 818 imported Chinese products valued at US$34 billion.” Then, China began collecting tariffs on imported products from the United States, and the trade war started to increase in terms of intensity. Most recently, the US delayed a tariff increase on Chinese goods, but this “trade war” does not seem to have an end in sight as of right now. 

Apple began selling made-in-India iPhone 6s and 7 models earlier this year for the Indian market, but this moving of the production of the iPhone XR to India marks the first time brand-new iPhones will be made in India for sale both in the country and worldwide.