All of the largest Taiwanese suppliers to Apple - Foxconn, Pegatron and Wistron Corp. - has expanded iPhone assembly in India.
Apple looking for alternative production centers amid trade war between Washington and Beijing
Apple Inc. Taiwanese contract manufacturer of Pegatron Corp. has started assembling the company's latest iPhone 14 model in India.
The move makes Pegatron the second Apple supplier to produce the iPhone 14 in the country, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg News, refusing to be identified as the manufacturing plan is not public.
This comes at a time when Apple's flagship iPhone Pro manufacturing center in the Chinese city of Zhengzhou, run by Foxconn Technology Group, was suddenly put under COVID-19 lockdown by the authorities. That position highlighted Apple's deep dependence on China, although India's expansion was in line with diversification plans, the people said.
Apple declined to comment and Pegatron did not respond to a request for comment.
Foxconn began making the iPhone 14 in India in September, just weeks after its global unveiling and nearing parity with the start of production in China, where most iPhones are still made. Apple's main production partner still has specifications on the iPhone Pro model, which it assembles in Zhengzhou.
The Pegatron factory near Chennai, Tamil Nadu, which employed over 7,000 as of the end of September, also began making iPhone 12 handsets earlier this year. The Pegatron usually gets orders for entry-level models from Apple.
Cupertino, Calif.-based Apple is exploring alternative production centers amid a trade war between Washington and Beijing and tighter enforcement of Xi Jinping's COVID Zero policy in China. At the same time, New Delhi is positioning India as a competitor to China's manufacturing capacity. Counterpoint senior analyst Evan Lam said a major obstacle to shifting more production out of China is that most iPhone components are still made there and must be shipped wherever the devices are assembled.
All of the largest Taiwanese suppliers to Apple - Foxconn, Pegatron and Wistron Corp. - Has boosted iPhone assembly in India, boosting Prime Minister Narendra Modi's financial incentive program. This has also helped in increasing iPhone exports from the South Asian country.
Apple began assembling iPhones in India through Wistron for the first time in 2017 after years of effort to build manufacturing capabilities in the country. And while India is currently a small consumer market for Apple, the US country of 1.4 billion offers huge headroom for growth as income and Internet connectivity grow.
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