Apple: India parts and greener supply chain

Apple’s suppliers in India are now shipping billions of dollars of parts to China, flipping a trade pattern that used to run the other way. (timesofindia.indiatimes.com) The Times of India reported Apple-linked vendors in India have exported about $2.5 billion of components and sub-assemblies to China in fiscal 2026 so far, up from about $920 million in fiscal 2025. Industry estimates cited by the paper said the figure could reach $3.5 billion in FY26, with $2.8 billion already achieved by January. (timesofindia.indiatimes.com) The suppliers named in the report include Foxconn, Tata Electronics, Tata-owned Pegatron Technology India, Motherson, Salcomp, TRIL Bangalore and Yuzhan Technology. The exported parts include printed circuit board assemblies, casings, flexible PCB assemblies and conductive graphite buttons used in phones and other devices. (timesofindia.indiatimes.com) The shift sits on top of India’s push to build a deeper electronics supply chain, not just assemble finished phones. India’s Electronics Component Manufacturing Scheme, notified on April 8, 2025, offers turnover-linked, capital-expenditure and hybrid incentives for sub-assemblies, bare components and supply-chain equipment. (pib.gov.in, ecms.meity.gov.in) India’s electronics ministry said in October 2025 that ECMS commitments had reached ₹1,15,351 crore as of September 30, 2025, nearly double the original target of ₹59,350 crore. The ministry said the scheme is meant to tie India’s electronics industry more tightly into global value chains and raise domestic value addition. (pib.gov.in) At the same time, Apple is telling investors and customers that its supply chain is changing in a second way: the materials inside its products are getting more recycled, and more used devices are being put back into circulation. Moneycontrol reported Apple said 15.6 million devices and accessories were refurbished and resold in 2025. (moneycontrol.com) Apple’s 2025 Environmental Progress Report said the company has cut overall emissions by more than 60% since 2015 and that suppliers now support more than 17.8 gigawatts of clean energy worldwide. The report ties those changes to Apple’s 2030 goal of becoming carbon neutral across its global footprint, including its supply chain and customer use of products. (apple.com) The two developments point to the same operating model: Apple wants more of its parts base spread beyond China while it also squeezes more reuse and lower-carbon inputs out of that network. India is becoming more important not only as an iPhone assembly hub, but as a source of the components that feed Apple’s wider manufacturing system. (timesofindia.indiatimes.com, apple.com) For Apple, that means the supply chain story is no longer just about where iPhones are assembled. It is increasingly about where the parts come from, how often materials are reused, and how much electricity and carbon sit behind each device. (timesofindia.indiatimes.com, apple.com)