Foxconn Begins Apple iPhone 15 Production In India

Days after Apple supplier Foxconn increased its investment in Telangana to $550 million, it has begun the production of iPhone 15 in Tamil Nadu, India, claimed media reports. This is the company's effort to narrow a gap between the operations in India and the manufacturing base in China.

Bloomberg quoting sources reported that Foxconn Technology Plant Inc Sriperumbudur is likely to deliver the newest devices only days after the company began shipping from factories in China as it plans to increase the volume of iPhones produced in India.

As tensions between US and Beijing have been increasing, the Cupertino, California-based firm is working on a diversification project to expand its manufacturing away from China and de-risk its supply chain. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been building closer ties with Washington in order to make India a manufacturing hub for other countries.

Production scale in India

The scale of production of iPhones in the country will largely depend on the ready availability of the components that are largely imported and the production lines ramped up at the facility in Chennai.

The media reports also claim that other suppliers in India that include Wistron Corp factory and Pegatron Corp that are being acquired by Tata Group will also be resuming the production of iPhone 15.

Reduction in shipment timing

Before the iPhone 14, the tech giant had very minimal assembly in India that pushed the output in China by close to six to nine months. This delay reduced drastically last year as Apple started the production of its iPhones in India by the end of March. The company this year plans to move closer to parity on the shipment timing from India and China. However, according to the source that spoke to Bloomberg the suppliers are not yet sure if they will be able to achieve this with full certainty.

Apple looks at India as upcoming market for retail and manufacturing

Apple has been looking at the fast-growing India market for more opportunities both for retail and manufacturing of gadgets. It also opened its first retail stores in the country this year.

In the quarter through June Apple's sales have declined due to low consumer demand in key markets like US, China and Europe. However, in the quarter its iPhone sales in India has seen a double-digit growth.