Apple to Double-Down on Manufacturing in India, Foxconn Quadruples Workforce
Foxconn has announced intentions to increase the number of employees it employs in India due to the iPhone manufacturing problem in China. The immediate issue will be resolved after the transfer, however. Progress has been excruciatingly slow for Apple and its suppliers. They have tried for years to lessen the company’s reliance on China as a production base, notably for the iPhone.
Reuters has been informed of Foxconn’s plans by anonymous sources within the Indian government.
Apple supplier Foxconn plans to quadruple the workforce at its iPhone factory in India over two years, two government officials with knowledge of the matter said, pointing to a production adjustment as it faces disruptions in China.
Taiwan-based Foxconn now plans to boost the workforce at its plant in southern India to 70,000 by adding 53,000 more workers over the next two years, said the sources, who declined to be named as the discussions are private.”
Even though Apple has been extending manufacturing to other nations, current estimates indicate that China still supplies 95% of the world’s iPhones, with almost 80% of all iPhones being produced at a single factory in Zhengzhou, sometimes known as “iPhone City.”
A COVID-19 outbreak has considerably disrupted production at that site. Due to the disorderly environment or fear of the virus, several employees left the factory and went home. Foxconn retaliated by providing hefty incentives, but the facility was later put on lockdown for a week, working at a much reduced capacity when the illnesses spread.
Although increasing the Indian workforce to 70,000 workers would reduce the size of the main plant in iPhone City by about a third, the extended timeline means it won’t help the current crisis. By developing this expertise, Apple should become substantially more resistant to problems in China in the future. Recently, the growth of iPhone assembly in India has quickened. The plant’s initial output was just the first iPhone SE, but it has gradually undergone upgrades to enable the manufacturing of more up-to-date and complex models.
This year, Foxconn India started manufacturing iPhone 14 models within weeks of the commencement of production in China, and assembly of next year’s iPhone 15 is likely to begin concurrently in both countries. China is expected to continue to be the primary location for the manufacture of the iPhone.
