As per two government sources, Foxconn, one of Apple’s main suppliers, intends to quadruple the man power at its iPhone production in India in the next 2 years. This production shift comes on the back of the problems that Foxconn is facing in China.
Stringent restrictions on account of the coronavirus spread in China has caused production limitations at Foxconn’s Zhengzhou facility which is the biggest iPhone production facility in the world. The factory was in headlines lately, disrupting manufacturing operations and raising questions about how China’s zero-covid policy could affect the international supply chains.
Apple’s sales prognosis for the busy holiday season has been dimmed as a result of the production halts, which caused Apple to decrease its predictions for sales and shipments of the premium iPhone 14 models. According to the sources, the Taiwan-based contract manufacturer intends to raise the man power at its plant in Tamil Nadu to 70,000 by hiring 53,000 more workers in 2 years. Although Foxconn’s Zhengzhou facility, which employs 200,000 people, dwarfs Apple’s Tamil Nadu plant in terms of size, it is crucial to Apple’s aspirations to move production away from China.
In 2019, Foxconn, formerly known as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd, opened a facility in India and has since increased production. This year saw the start of iPhone 14 production. Although Foxconn is known to be interested in growing the facility, neither the size nor the timing of the expansion have previously been disclosed.
Foxconn is reportedly expanding operations in India to enhance its capacity for entry-level models and to satisfy Indian demand, according to a person with knowledge of the situation in Taiwan. The source declined to provide further information regarding its recruiting plans in India, only saying, “We are progressively increasing our production scale there.”
In September, JP Morgan analysts predicted that Apple could produce one in four iPhones in India by 2025 and that, up from 5% today, 25% of all Apple products like the Mac, iPad, Apple Watch, and AirPods, would be made outside of China by then.
