USCHOIL policy in the United States: Does the iPhone become much more expensive?

According to the announcement by US President Donald Trump to introduce higher import duties in the United States for several countries on earth, many people interested in Apple are concerned with the question of how this affects the iPhone and other technical products. With Vietnam, Thailand, China, Taiwan and India, the most important countries for Apple are on the list. The exact extent is currently still difficult to estimate- although it is also differentiated between the effects on US and EU consumers. But an analyst from the supply chain has already shown the options that Apple now has and how they could affect consumer prices.

Ming-Chi Kuo from the financial analyst company TF International Securities in Taiwan assumethat Apple’s gross profit span due to the announced US tariffs could drop a total of 8.5 to 9 percent, since the iPhone manufacturer has to expect significantly increased costs. This is probably how investors see it: Like other technical values, the Apple share massively lost Trump after the announcement. However, the good news is: According to KUO, Apple could reduce the effects to 5.5 to 6 percent or at best even to 1 to 3 percent without increasing prices.

India now more important than ever

According to KUO, the key is the location of iPhone production. For years, Apple has been driving the project for years to make itself more independent of China as a production country and to produce the iPhone more in other countries, especially India. KUO is optimistic that, unlike in the tense relationship between China and the USA, there are negotiation scope for India in order to agree with the United States lower tariffs. Then the effects on Apple would be significantly lower.

In view of the high volume of devices that are manufactured in China, however, it sounds easier than it is in reality. Already during the increasing tension around Taiwan, Apple tried to detach his dependence on China. In view of the necessary production capacities, this process requires staying power and should hardly be massively promoted at short notice. For this year it can be expected that Apple can handle 15 percent of its global iPhone production in India – an increase of 3 to 5 percent compared to the previous year.

Where Apple can still save

KUO therefore mentions other possible measures that Apple can take. In his view, the company could urge the fact that mobile phone network operators subsidize the devices more with new cell phone contracts, so that the iPhones remain affordable for consumers. Pressure on the suppliers could also help reduce the costs.

On the consumer side, Apple could compensate for the higher costs by the fact that less money is paid for the payment of older devices than before. And Kuo is convinced that buyers of Pro devices are more willing to carry a price increase as a buyer of cheaper devices, especially since the higher-priced devices make up a high proportion of sales.

KUO: Cuisinable for Apple

All in all, the analyst is confident that Apple can cope with the tariffs quite well. The total gross margin, i.e. the key figure, how much Apple earns in one device minus the costs, was 46 percent in the 2024 financial year. Even a value of less than 40 percent can be cope with, especially since Kuo assumes that this slump will only be short -term if Apple takes some of the measures mentioned.

The long -term effects are more problematic if existing devices are used for longer due to impending recession and restraint of consumers and new purchases are postponed.