Every iPhone proudly carries the announcement: Designed in California. But while Apple's breathtaking devices are imagined and dreamed up in the United States of America, their physical assembly happens thousands of miles distant—in China latest news today.
That's the same China dominating the headlines in China latest news today, especially as it struggles with rising tariffs from erstwhile U.S. President Donald Trump—some now up to 245% on Chinese imports.
Apple produces over 220 million iPhones annually—and by anyone's measure, nearly 90% of them are produced in China. From the screens and battery packs to the circuit boards and camera lenses, the majority of the components used to produce iPhones, iPads, and MacBooks are made, sourced, or assembled in China before they are exported to Apple's biggest market: the United States.
Fortunately for Apple, Trump suspended the imposition of the newest wave of tariffs on smartphones, computers, and other electronics for now.
But relief might be short-lived.
Trump just let slip a suggestion of more tariffs, tweeting, "NOBODY is getting 'off the hook,' as investigations are initiated into semiconductors and the whole electronics supply chain. That action tops China latest news today, with global supply chains in the limelight.
Apple's international supply chain system—its biggest strength—is cracking under political and economic pressure.
The two biggest economies in the world, the U.S. and China, have been intertwined for decades. But tensions have increased, leaving a vital question: who will lose more?
How Apple's Lifeline Became a Risk
For decades, China has reaped massive economic rewards from making products for one of the world's most valuable tech goliaths. Apple's presence made China a luxury manufacturing center and hurled regional innovation.
China's tech industry owes a large portion of its hyper-charged expansion to early foreign partnerships—Apple being the prime example.
Apple initially experimented with China in the 1990s with third-party computer sales. In 1997, when the company was headed for collapse, the Chinese market served as a manufacturer lifeline when China opened its doors to foreign businesses to lure more job creation and industrial progress.
Apple entered China officially in 2001 by way of a Shanghai trading company and began producing gadgets domestically. Apple entered into a relationship with Foxconn, a Chinese-based Taiwanese firm, to produce iPods, iMacs, and, ultimately, the revolutionary iPhone.
As Beijing rolled out the red carpet for global trade—oddly enough with U.S. encouragement—Apple acted fast in what would shortly be called "the world's factory."
China was not yet capable of making something as advanced as the iPhone then. Apple carefully chose suppliers, however, and helped them build into global leaders. Beijing Jingdiao began life as a small acrylic-cutting business but built into a producer of high-speed precision tools vital to iPhone manufacturing.
This kind of change is featured regularly in China latest news today, specifically when covering the nation's development as a manufacturer.
Apple welcomed its first retail store in Beijing's Sanlitun neighborhood in 2008—the same year China held the Olympics and its international relations were at a high. The success soon grew to 50 stores across the country, with people queuing for hours to purchase new gadgets.
Foxconn's Zhengzhou factory, nicknamed "iPhone City," expanded into the world's biggest iPhone assembly plant.
At present, Foxconn is Apple's main manufacturing partner. Advanced chips are provided by Taiwan's TSMC, and rare earth elements—necessary for iPhone cameras and speakers—are predominantly supplied by China. China still enjoys a commanding lead in global rare earth supply, according to China latest news today.
Presently, 150 of Apple's largest 187 suppliers have Chinese factories, according to a report by Nikkei Asia as of 2024.
"China's supply chain is more valuable to us than any supply chain in the world," Apple CEO Tim Cook said in a recent interview—an excerpt now circulating in China latest news today.
Conclusion
Apple's deeply rooted operations in China are the result of decades of strategy—but that strategy is being subjected to severe tests. Geopolitical tensions are increasing, with economic policies radically shifting, as Apple finds itself in the middle of a global supply chain battle. As noted in China latest news today, Apple's future depends on whether it can smoothly navigate this complicated and increasingly delicate partnership.