Analyst: “Apple producing iPhones in the US is a fairy tale”
After President Trump threatened Apple this morning with a 25% tariff if it didn’t produce US iPhones in the US, Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives reiterated his belief that doing so would be virtually impossible:
“The pressure from Trump Administration on Apple to build iPhone production in the US as we have discussed this would result in an iPhone price point that is a non-starter for Cupertino and translate into iPhone prices of ~$3,500 if it was made in the US which is not realistic as this would take 5-10 years to shift production to the US. We believe the concept of Apple producing iPhones in the US is a fairy tale that is not feasible.”
Ives, however, thinks Apple CEO Tim Cook, who he says now may be 25% politician and 75% CEO, will be able to weather this Trump storm, too. “[We] believe AAPL will continue to navigate this complex tariff situation in a game of negotiations especially heading into iPhone 17 production this Fall,” Ives wrote, and maintained the firm’s “outperform” rating.