Apple is adding a new titanium metal supplier in the United States for its new foldable models iPhone and Duo, while also expanding the local production capacity of iPhone 18 Pro camera components, in order to advance its plan to expand manufacturing operations within the U.S.
Apple announced on Tuesday that it will invest up to $100 million over the next three years in Perryman Company in Houston, Pennsylvania, for the production of titanium materials used in Apple products, which includes the $1,999 folding phone iPhone Duo.
Since Trump began his second presidential term, Apple has made a public commitment to increase its investments in the United States. However, the majority of the final assembly processes for these products still take place overseas. Last August, Apple launched its "Made in America" initiative, further increasing its domestic investment by $100 billion to a total of $600 billion. Tim Cook, who recently stepped down from his role as Apple's CEO, attended the launch event for this investment plan at the White House; at that time, Trump was urging other tech giants to also bring more production capacity to the United States.
At the time of this official announcement, Apple's first foldable phone is facing serious production capacity bottlenecks; this new device will go on sale officially this Friday.
Morgan Stanley data shows that on the first day of pre-orders, the waiting period for online delivery for some iPhone and Duo models was extended to 14 weeks, setting a new record for the longest wait time among all new iPhone models in over a decade. Apple stated on Friday that the pre-order demand was "unprecedentedly high," but did not indicate whether they would increase production.
JPMorgan analysts predict that due to supply chain constraints, this year's shipments of iPhone and Duo will only reach 8 to 9 million units, lower than the previous forecast of 10 million units. Apple has also not indicated whether cooperation with Perriman will be able to increase production capacity in the short term.
Perryman will be responsible for melting, forging, and rolling grade 5 titanium alloy; Apple requires that this batch of titanium material contain at least 80% recycled raw materials. The titanium metal will be used for the iPhone Duo body shells to ensure the structural strength and durability of the entire machine.
In addition to the titanium material collaboration, Apple also announced on Tuesday an expansion of its partnership with QnityElectronics in Delaware: this company will mass-produce the precision optical films used in iPhone 18 Pro variable aperture cameras. This feature allows the main camera lens to automatically adjust the amount of light entering according to the environment, significantly enhancing image control and depth of field effects.
Apple stated that nearly 100 components, including iPhone, Duo, iPhone, and Pro, are produced and supplied by local companies in more than a dozen states across the United States.
Apple's Operations Director, Sabih Khan, stated in a statement: "We are very pleased to deepen our cooperation with high-end material and component manufacturers in the United States to provide core components for the latest generation of iPhone."
Apple also announced other cooperation projects under the AMP initiative: Broadcom will produce chips in the United States; Corning will manufacture special cover glass for iPhone and Apple Watch; Anker Technology is building a semiconductor packaging and testing factory in Pioria, Arizona.
There is still a major question in the outside world: given that there were already long queues before the product went on sale, will Apple be able to maximize the production capacity of iPhone and Duo to meet the strong market demand?
