On Monday, Apple Inc. announced that it has started manufacturing iPhone 13 in India, in a step to reduce the company’s dependency on its Chinese plant.
Reuters claims that the phone is being produced in a local plant of Apple’s Taiwanese contractor Foxconn, located in Sriperumbudur, South Tamil Nadu.
Apple has been shifting some of its iPhone production operations from China to other markets such as India, Mexico, and Vietnam. The company also plans on assembling iPads there.
Contract manufacturers supplying American brands have been setting their sights on other countries to diversify production away from China.
In 2021, India accounted for 3.1% of Apple’s global manufacturing base, which is expected to reach 5% to 7% this year. While China still accounts for 95.3%.
The iPhone 13 will be the fourth model produced locally after the company first launched its operations in India back in 2017 for the iPhone SE. However, for India to become a major part of the manufacturing supply chain, the country still needs to focus on a stronger domestic market, export-friendly policies, and a better logistics infrastructure.
