Apple manufacturer Foxconn will invest more than $200 million in a new plant in India to make Apple Airpods, according to a report. The development came after Foxconn bagged a fresh order to make Apple Airpods. It is, however, not clear what size is the new order from Apple.
The Taiwanese contract manufacturer of Apple products has mammoth factories in China but it has been gradually shifting focus to India in recent years. The company plans to set up a ew Airpod manufacturing plant in the southern Indian state of Telengana, Reuters reported exclusively.
Apple's Request
Interestingly, Reuters reported that Foxconn's decision to set up the production in India came after a request from Apple to do so.
The report adds that Foxconn Interconnect Technology Ltd, which is a subsidiary of Foxconn, will start the construction of the plant in the second half of 2023. Production is expected to start by the end of 2024.
Foxconn factories in China and India assemble more than 70 percent of all iPhones. It is the first time that Foxcoon has won an Apple order to make Airpods. Cirrently, Airpods are being manufactured by a string of Chinese suppliers.
Earlier this month, reports said Foxconn was readying plans for a $700 million production hub in India. Apple partner Foxconn Technology Group will set up the new plant in India's southern technology hub of Bangalore, Bloomberg reported.
Apple Production in India
For decades China was the backbone of the global supply chain, but the post-Covid era has seen solid changes in that pattern. India has emerged as one of the favorite destinations for global giants to set up production units and back-end operations. Apple had cited labor unrest in Foxconn Chinese factories as one of the reasons behind its sluggish iPhone sales last year.
Though India is a relatively new Apple manufacturing hub, the country, the Cupertino-based tech giant exported $1 billion worth of iPhones from India in the second half of last year.
The outlook for the manufacturing of Apple iPhones in India is quite robust according to Bloomberg data. The report says iPhone shipments from India to Europe and the Middle East is slated to hit a mammoth $2.5 billion in the 12 months through March 2023.
Apple started making iPhones in India in 2017 in a limited way, with the manufacture of iPhone SE. However, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government announced huge incentives in the years that followed, which drove Apple's Taiwanese contract manufacturers explore the India option further.
