India is emerging as Apple Inc.’s top manufacturing bet in Asia outside of China. On Monday, the company announced it has begun producing the iPhone 13 in the country. But for India to snatch a sizable chunk of the manufacturing pie, the country needs a stronger domestic market, export-friendly policies and better logistics infrastructure.
India accounted for about 3.1% of Apple’s global manufacturing base in 2021—up from 1.3% in 2020—and is expected to reach 5% to 7% in 2022, according to estimates by Counterpoint Research. That number is still minuscule compared with China, which accounts for 95.3%. Southeast Asia, including Vietnam and Indonesia, is also putting up a good fight.
