BEIJING, December 13 (TMTPost)— Increasing signs show Apple Inc. is seeking to move more iPhone productions to India.

Credit：Visual China

Apple aims to increase annual iPhone production in India to more than 50 million units within two to three years, and tens of millions of units more afterward, the Wall Street Journal cited people involved in the supply chain. If the reported plans are materialized, a quarter of global iPhones would be made in India though China will remain the largest iPhone-making destinations.

Apple and its suppliers, led by Hon Hai Technology Group (Foxconn), generally believe the initial push into India has gone well and are laying foundation for a bigger expansion, according to the report. It said Apple also decided to choose India as a manufacturing site to make lower-end iPhones sold in 2025.

Foxconn, Apple’s largest iPhone maker, said late November that it will invest US$1.541 billion in a construction project in India to fulfill its operational needs. The Wall Street Journal’s source revealed that the first phase of a Foxconn’s plant under construction in southern India’s Karnataka will start operation in April, and the plant targets to produce 20 million handsets annually, mainly iPhones, in the coming two to three years.

Apple announced in April 2022 that it commerced making iPhone 13 in India, which seems as one of signs to highlight increasing importance of countries like India, Vietnam and Mexico for suppliers who try to improve diversification of production away from China. Five months later, Apple confirmed it was assembling iPhone 14 in India, less than three weeks from its release of the new iPhone series. The confirmation effectively admitted India first made the latest flagship iPhone. 

Indian official has suggested Apple’s ambitious plan for production shift. Apple has already made about 5% to 7% of its production in India, and “If I am not mistaken, they are targeting to go up to 25% of their manufacturing, Piyush Goyal, the Commerce and Industry Minister, said in January. News earlier this year have showcased Apple’s ongoing shifting efforts.

About a month earlier, F International Securities analyst Ming Chi Kuo, who was well known as the most accurate Apple analyst in the world, expected the proportion of iPhones made in India will increase to 20% to 25% by 2024, up from 12% to 14% of global shipments this year,If all goes well. In Kuo’s note at the beginning of November, Kuo noted the new product introduction (NPI) for standard iPhone 17, which was set to be launched in 2025, will kick off in India in the second half of 2024. If the NPI effort were correct, that would be the first time for Apple to start development of a new iPhone model outside China. Kuo added that the reason that Apple chose the standard iPhone17 is to reduce design risk as such version is less difficult in design development.

Earlier this month, the Financial Times reported Apple has informed component suppliers about its preference to source batteries of the upcoming iPhone 16 from facilities in India. Battery makers such as Huizhou Desay Group Co.,Ltd., a manufacturer based in Southern China’s Huizhou city, have been encouraged to set up new factories in India, and Simplo, a Taiwanese supplier, has been urged to scale up production capacity in the country to meet future orders, the report cited people familiar with the plans. "If all goes well with iPhone 16 battery supply, Apple plans to move more iPhone battery production to India," said one source.

An Indian official just announced a progress in iPhone production in the developing economy. Japanese electronic parts maker TDK Corp will be producing lithium-ion battery cells for Apple iPhones in India, and is building a 180-acre facility in in Manesar, in the state of Haryana, in southern India, accordng to a post on social media X by Rajeev Chandrasekhar, India's minister of state for electronics and IT.

Last month, Bloomberg reported Indian conglomerate Tata Group plans to set up one of India’s biggest iPhone assembly facility in Hosur in the southern Tamil Nadu state, the latest sing that Apple’s suppliers are working to increase production in the South Asian economy. The facility could have 20 assembly lines and empoly 50,000 people in two years, according to the report.

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