Apple to Immediately Shift its Production Lines to India Following Issues in China
As early as 2025, it is anticipated that Apple will move as much as 25 percent of its iPhone manufacture to India. Pegatron is the second vendor to start creating Apple’s newest smartphone in India, following in the footsteps of Foxconn, who began production of the iPhone 14 in the nation back in September.
According to a report by Bloomberg, the Taiwanese company Pegatron Corp. is the second manufacturer to commence manufacturing the iPhone 14 for Apple in India. In the past, Apple’s manufacturing facilities in India did not begin making iPhones for at least a year after introducing a new model. Notably, Foxconn started to produce the iPhone 14 in the same month the device was made available officially.
Now, just a little more than a month later, Apple has Pegatron also building iPhone 14 devices in India as the firm cranks up its efforts to minimize its dependence on operations in China. Pegatron’s new India facility, located in the state of Tamil Nadu in the country’s south and was previously producing iPhone 12 this year, has more than 7,000 people, as reported by Bloomberg.
The fact that many of the iPhone’s components are manufactured in China and then need to be transported to the facilities where they are assembled is still a difficulty for Apple, despite its success in diversifying its manufacturing. Ming-Chi Kuo, an Apple analyst who has been with the company for many years, said this morning that he anticipates Apple’s operations in India will continue expanding and that the “medium/long-term aim” is to reach 40-45% of iPhones originating from the nation.
As a result, iPhones made by Foxconn in India will grow by at least 150% YoY in 2023, and the medium/long-term goal is to ship 40-45% of iPhones from India (vs. the current 2-4%), meaning Foxconn's iPhone production capacity in India will increase rapidly in the next few years.
— 郭明錤 (Ming-Chi Kuo) (@mingchikuo) November 4, 2022
Following an epidemic at the factory, which resulted in the metropolis of nearly 10 million people being shut down, Foxconn’s major Zhengzhou facility, which employs approximately 200,000 people, has been subject to the same limits. According to one source, when COVID-19 regulations in China become more stringent, iPhone manufacturing might decrease by as much as 30% next month.
Apple is engaging in a long-term strategy by shifting its manufacturing lines away from China which won’t significantly influence on its supply chain for many years.
