Apple says devices sold in the US will no longer come from China, as the tech giant tries to mitigate the impact of Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Most iPhones will be sourced from India instead, with iPads coming from Vietnam, to prevent dramatic price rises for American consumers.
Unveiling financial results from January to March, the company said the US president’s escalating trade war has had a limited impact on its performance so far.
However, Apple CEO Tim Cook believes the tariffs will add £677m in costs during the current quarter – assuming Trump’s policies don’t change.
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Revenue for the first three months of the year stood at £71.8bn, with earnings of £18.6bn also beating analyst expectations.
High demand for iPhones during this period may have been driven by US shoppers rushing to make purchases before the new tariffs came into force.
But the full impact of any panic buying will only emerge when Apple reports its results from April to June later in the year.
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Apple’s reliance on Chinese factories to manufacture its iPhones meant the company was far more exposed to the impact of Trump’s trade war than others.
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After the president unveiled plans to impose reciprocal tariffs on dozens of countries – now largely paused for 90 days – Apple’s stock plunged by 23%, wiping out £582bn of value.
While its share price has recovered slightly, it remains 5% lower than before “Liberation Day”.
Growing tensions between Washington and Beijing are also having an impact on Apple’s sales in China, which fell 2.3% between January and March.
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Addressing the planned changes to manufacturing, Mr Cook added: “We have a complex supply chain. There’s always risk in the supply chain. What we learned some time ago was that having everything in one location had too much risk with it.”
Devices sold outside of the US will continue to be made in China.
