Apple expects $900m tariff hit, US iPhone supply shifts to India

SAN FRANCISCO: Apple on Thursday reported first-quarter profit above expectations but warned that US tariffs could cost the company and was disrupting its supply chain.

Apple expects US tariffs to cost $900 million in the current quarter, even though their impact was “limited” at the start of this year, chief executive Tim Cook said on an earnings call.

Cook said he expected “a majority of iPhones sold in the US will have India as their country of origin,” adding that Apple’s products were exempt from Trump’s most severe reciprocal tariffs for now.

“We are not able to precisely estimate the impact of tariffs, as we are uncertain of potential future actions prior to the end of the quarter,” Cook said.

“Assuming the current global tariff rates, policies and applications do not change for the balance of the quarter and no new tariffs are added, we estimate the impact to add $900 million to our costs.”

Tit-for-tat exchanges have seen hefty US levies imposed on China, with Beijing setting retaliatory barriers on US imports.

High-end tech goods such as smartphones, semiconductors and computers received a temporary reprieve from US tariffs.

Although completed smartphones are exempted, for now, from Trump’s tariffs, not all components that go into Apple devices are spared, said independent tech analyst Rob Enderle.

“The more components are crossing borders, the most cost flows through to the device,” Enderle explained.

“In the end, this all adds up to an expensive mess,” he said of the tariff situation.

Canalys research manager Le Xuan Chiew said Apple built up inventory ahead of tariffs going into effect.