Foxconn has been manufacturing iPhones in India for almost five years now. The company has a 100-acre facility in Chennai that employs over 15,000 people to produce iPhones for Apple. This factory has also been in charge of making the iPhone 14, along with the recently launched iPhone 15.
Foxconn is now looking to expand its production plants in India. The company has confirmed that it will be increasing its workforce to upscale its manufacturing capacity. This move is a part of Apple’s long-term vision to reduce its dependency on China for producing iPhones and other products.
Foxconn Confirms Expansion Plans in India With Double Workforce
Foxconn will soon start expanding its production operations in India. The company had previously that it was setting up two new facilities in Karnataka, along with an additional plant in Chennai. These new plants are expected to be functional in early 2025.
As a part of this expansion, Foxconn will be doubling its workforce in India in the next 12 months. V Lee, Foxconn’s representative in India shared a post on LinkedIn to celebrate PM Narendra Modi’s 73rd birthday. The post also said that Foxconn is committed to its growth in India. The company will double its workforce in India in the upcoming year.
As per Lee, Foxconn will also be increasing its foreign direct investment (FDI) in India. Reuters had reported that Foxconn is investing over Rs 8,800 crores to set up new manufacturing plants for Apple in India.
Apple is currently the largest client of Foxconn in India. The Foxconn-Apple partnership in India has been contributing to over 5% of global iPhone production. With a constant increase in demand for iPhones and Apple’s issues with China, Foxconn is looking to expand rapidly in India.
Apart from Apple, Foxconn also manufactures electronic components for EVs. As per Moneycontrol, the company has been making parts for Ather Energy and Ola Electric since 2015. Although the scale of its EV component production is very small as compared to Foxconn’s iPhone production in India.
Wistron’s Exit From India Is a Huge Opportunity for Foxconn
Wistron was Apple’s first partner to start manufacturing iPhones in India. The company had started the production of the iPhone SE in a small facility in Karnataka back in 2017. After the initial success with Wistron, Apple upscaled its plans and started considering India as a manufacturing hub for its devices.
However, Wistron started facing some internal issues in managing its Apple facilities in India. Hence, the company decided to take an exit from the business of manufacturing iPhones in the country. A few weeks back, Wistron sold all of its iPhone manufacturing facilities in India to the Tata Group.
Although Wistron and Foxconn are close partners of Apple, the primary fact is that they are business competitors with each other. Hence, Wistron’s exit from India in iPhone production is seen as a huge opportunity for Foxconn to get an upper edge over its competitor, Wistron.
Apple’s move-out plans from China, the Indian government’s incentives for local production, the ever-increasing demand for iPhones, and Wistron’s exit from India, are all factors that favour Foxconn in the path towards expanding its operations in India.
