Technology giant Apple wants to make itself independent of China and is increasingly relocating production to India – with success.
China was once the country into which all major industrial nations expanded. Every production site, no matter how small, was relocated to the country where production and manufacturing is cheaper than in western countries. However, dependence on China has recently become a problem for many international companies.
So also for the technology giant Apple. The very strict lockdown in China had led to a paralysis of the manufacturing contract manufacturers. In addition, the US government is exerting increasing pressure on the technology industry in China, for example by restricting high-tech chip exports to the country. In addition, Apple’s main manufacturer Foxconn is based in Taiwan, which regards the People’s Republic of China as its own territory – tensions have recently increased there.
Upcoming iPhone model series could be produced simultaneously in China and India
In its efforts to become more independent from China, Apple is therefore increasingly relying on India. In the past fiscal year, the group produced iPhones worth around 7 billion US dollars in India, three times as much as in the previous year, the Bloomberg news agency reported on Thursday, citing informed people.
Apple’s suppliers expanded their production lines in India at record speed last year, the report said. In autumn, the upcoming iPhone model series could be produced simultaneously in China and India for the first time, and by 2025 a quarter of the iPhones manufactured worldwide could come from India. Apple has not commented on this information to Bloomberg.
iPhone makers create tens of thousands of jobs in India
India is doing the rest to attract more Apple production, including government incentives for smartphone production. The iPhone manufacturers Foxconn, Wistron and Pegatron as well as component suppliers such as Sunwoda, Avary, Foxlink and Salcomp have created a total of almost 50,000 direct jobs and probably around 100,000 indirect jobs in India since August 2021, a spokesman for the Indian Ministry of Electronics told Deutsche Presse- agency earlier this year.
In March, Foxconn announced plans to open a large manufacturing facility in Telangana state that is expected to create 100,000 jobs in ten years.
