India to be the manufacturing hub for Apple, producing over 50 million iPhones, accounting for 25% of its global annual production.
According to a recent report, Apple has ambitious intentions for India, as it plans to manufacture up to 50 million iPhones annually in collaboration with its suppliers. This figure represents a significant portion, approximately 25 percent, of the global iPhone production. Over the next two to three years, Apple intends to enhance its factories in India to meet the rising demand for iPhones. Furthermore, once the initial production target is achieved, the company aims to further increase the quantity, adding tens of millions of additional iPhone units to its lineup.
The information comes from a report in the Wall Street Journal, which said, “Apple and its suppliers, led by Taiwan’s Foxconn Technology Group, are widely believed to have made an initial foray into India that has gone well and is laying the groundwork for greater expansion, people involved in the supply chain say.”
Tata lays the groundwork as Apple plans to expand production in India
Conglomerate Tata Group plans to build one of India’s largest iPhone assembly plants, capitalizing on Apple Inc’s ambitions to increase production in the South Asian country, according to Bloomberg.
Tata wants to build a plant in Hosur in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, according to people familiar with the matter. The plant is likely to have about 20 assembly lines and employ 50,000 workers within two years, according to the people, who declined to be named after discussing the unannounced plans. The goal is to have the site up and running in 12-18 months, Bloomberg claims.
The plant would bolster Apple’s efforts to localize its supply chain and strengthen its partnership with Tata, which already has an iPhone factory it bought from Wistron Corp. in neighboring Karnataka state. Apple is diversifying away from China by partnering with assembly and component manufacturing partners in India, Thailand, Malaysia and elsewhere.
The Indian conglomerate has taken other steps to increase its business with Apple and expand its legacy businesses, which range from salt to software. It has accelerated hiring at its existing facility in Hosur, where it makes iPhone cases or metal cases. Tata has also said it will open 100 retail stores focused on Apple products. Apple, meanwhile, has opened two stores in the country and is planning three more.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s production-linked subsidies have prompted Apple’s main suppliers, such as Taiwan’s Foxconn Technology Group and Pegatron Corp., to increase their operations in India. This helped Apple assemble more than $7 billion worth of iPhones in India in the previous fiscal year, taking the country’s share of the device’s production to about 7 percent. The rest are assembled in China, which a few years ago manufactured them all.
(Courtesy of Bloomberg)
