However other countries where Apple manufactures its products — like India, Vietnam, Brazil and Malaysia — are now also subject to heavy tariffs. The entire situation is very unfavorable for Apple and the company might even have to finally make the base iPhone models more expensive going forward.
All of this was done to encourage companies to move their production to the U.S. instead of continuing to rely on other countries. However, as Gurman points out, Apple is almost assuredly not going to do so.
The iPhone 16 is mostly manufactured in China. | Image credit — PhoneArena
If Apple were to shift everything to the U.S. it would be a colossal waste of its money as any positives would be null and void by the time the move was complete. It is a company in the end and it needs to prioritize profits to stay in business.
Lastly if Apple were to go about doing this then the prices of its products would skyrocket. Consumers would be pushed away and by the time the move ended and prices started going down customers would have switched to alternative products.
It’s really a lose-lose situation for Apple but not all is lost. There are multiple theoretical approaches possible for Apple to reduce the burden of tariffs. While it all seems dire I think a company as large as Apple will figure something out sooner or later.
