US sanctions and the impact of the pandemic are forcing Apple contractors to look to India and Vietnam as alternative locations for their manufacturing facilities. According to some estimates, up to half of all iPhones by 2027 will be assembled in India, although now this country has a share of no more than 5% in this area.

Analysts at DigiTimes Research made a similar forecast, according to the South China Morning Post. India now ranks eighth in importance in Apple's supply chain, with 278 factories of the two companies manufacturing products for Apple. In effect, this only allows them to claim 2.3% of Apple's entire supply chain. Vietnam is ranked 14th, with two companies operating 160 divisions, and the country's share of the supply chain does not exceed 1.3%. China has 121 Apple suppliers with 2,360 locations, accounting for 19.3%.

In short, in order to take over half of all orders for the production of the iPhone by 2027, Indian enterprises need to try hard. This forecast is even more ambitious than JPMorgan's estimate, which mentions India's readiness to produce up to a quarter of all iPhones by 2025. In the last three quarters of last year, India doubled shipments of Apple smartphones compared to the same period in 2021.

Taiwanese company Wistron began assembling the iPhone SE in India in 2017. Last fall, the assembly of the iPhone 14 in India began with a minimum delay in time from China. According to renowned analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, by the time the iPhone 15 family debuts this year, the assembly of next-generation smartphones will begin in India in sync with China. According to State of Flux analysts, for Apple's Indian suppliers, the main challenge now is the ability to quickly raise the level of product quality to the requirements of this customer. It's taken years for Apple's Chinese contractors to get it right, and Indian competitors won't have time to ramp up.