China has begun to reinstate its drastic Zero Covid-19 policies to bring down the spread of the infection in the country
This has led to significant production delays
Apple may now accelerate its plans to manufacture more smartphones in India
With a recent surge in Covid-19-related deaths in China, the country is reinforcing its Zero Covid policies, which include strict lockdowns and quarantines. While these measures may help save lives, they are proving to be rather challenging for manufacturing companies due to extended periods of factories being shut and work being halted. In light of this, Apple has begun to accelerate its plans to shift manufacturing to India and Vietnam.
Why will more Apple iPhones be manufactured in India?
The disruptions in China have led to a shortage of Apple iPhone 14, along with a 15-20 million dip in shipments due to labour protests at the Zhengzhou iPhone plant. According to the Wall Street Journal, Apple has been "telling suppliers to plan more actively for assembling Apple products elsewhere in Asia, particularly India and Vietnam” so that it can “reduce dependence on Taiwanese assemblers led by Foxconn”.
The report also said “Apple no longer feels comfortable having so much of its business tied up in one place,”
Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo stated that Apple intends to ship at least 40-50% of iPhones from India itself. According to JP Morgan, every fourth iPhone will be manufactured in India.
The increase in the production of Apple iPhone 14 will push numbers from 7 million iPhones in 2021 to approximately 12-13 million iPhones in 2022, which would be a significant milestone for the country. We’ve already seen an increase in iPhone production in India from 50% in 2019 to 73% in 2021, which indicates that India should be able to handle the higher production demands this year and hopefully bag the project for a longer term.
Which was the first Apple iPhone series manufactured in India?
The Apple iPhone SE was the first iPhone model manufactured in India, all way back in 2017. Now, some other models of iPhone are being manufactured at the Wistron factory, with the Apple iPhone 12 being one of them. Let's see if iPhone production in India surges because of this change.
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Kajoli Anand Puri
Kajoli is a tech-enthusiast with a soft-spot for smart kitchen and home appliances. She loves exploring gadgets and gizmos that are designed to make life simpler, but also secretly fears a world run by AI. Oh wait, we’re already there. View Full Profile
