Not India, This Is Where Apple Could Make Its Anticipated Foldable iPhone

Apple’s much-anticipated foldable iPhone may not debut its first production run in India, despite the country’s growing role in the company’s supply chain. According to a Nikkei report cited by Reuters, Apple has held discussions with suppliers to set up a pilot production line in Taiwan to test equipment and fine-tune manufacturing steps for the device.

The move signals that Apple will rely on Taiwan’s engineering ecosystem for early-stage development of the foldable iPhone, before transferring the process to India for mass production. Suppliers have reportedly identified a site in a northern Taiwanese city to host the pilot line.

If the plan goes ahead, Apple could release the foldable iPhone in 2026, a launch year that is already shaping up to be significant for the company. Apple is targeting production of 95 million iPhones in its 2026 lineup, representing an over 10 per cent increase from this year’s shipments, with the foldable model seen as a key driver of growth.

The decision highlights a crucial nuance in Apple’s global manufacturing strategy. While India is increasingly positioned as the hub for scaling production, with Apple now assembling about 14 per cent of its iPhones in the country, Taiwan still remains the company’s go-to destination for R&D-intensive and high-precision pilot projects. The foldable iPhone, which is expected to demand new materials and assembly processes, is no exception.

Apple has not commented on the report.

At its fall event earlier this month, the company introduced an upgraded iPhone lineup, including a slimmer iPhone Air, while keeping prices steady despite higher costs from US President Donald Trump’s tariffs.

India’s Role Still Growing

For India, the foldable project reinforces its place in Apple’s roadmap as a mass production hub rather than an innovation lab. Moving test production to Taiwan underscores the skill gap that still exists between India’s relatively new electronics ecosystem and Taiwan’s decades-old supplier base.

However, by 2026, Apple’s India operations could be handling one of the company’s most complex devices to date, highlighting an achievement that would strengthen New Delhi’s “Make in India” push.

Apple’s foldable iPhone journey will begin in Taiwan, not India. But if the project scales as expected, India could play a decisive role in bringing the company’s boldest design experiment yet to global markets.

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