Apple Tasks Second Assembly Partner in India With iPhone 14 Production

[MacRumors]

Apple has added another assembly partner to its iPhone 14 production roster in India as it seeks to build out its manufacturing base outside of China, reports Bloomberg.

Taiwanese contract manufacturer Pegatron is set to become the second Apple supplier to produce iPhone 14 models in the country behind Foxconn, which began production in India in September.

Apple's Taiwanese assembly partners Foxconn, Wistron, and Pegatron all have ‌iPhone‌ manufacturing plants in India, where ‌iPhone‌ 11, iPhone 12, iPhone 13, and most recently iPhone 14 models are being produced, with the latest model enjoying a marked reduction in the delay between Chinese and India output from months to weeks.

Apple's iPhone exports from India have amounted to $1 billion in the five months since April. While small by China's standards, India's increasing ‌iPhone‌ output signals Apple's willingness to plough investment into the country as an alternative to China's electronics assembly dominance, which has suffered recently from the country's zero-COVID policy.

Foxconn's main Zhengzhou plant, which employs about 200,000 people, has been hit by the stringent curbs after an outbreak at the factory, which led the city of about 10 million people to be locked down as a result. iPhone production could fall by as much as 30% next month due to the tightening COVID-19 restrictions in China, according to one report.

Despite the confluence of events, Apple's manufacturing expansion plans in India have been in place for some time are not connected to China's lockdown troubles, although they do highlight Apple's deep reliance on the one country.

In diversifying its production lines away from China, Apple is playing a long game that won't see a major impact on its supply chain for many years. Bloomberg recently reported that it would take around eight years to move just 10% of Apple's production capacity out of China, where about 98% of iPhones are still made.

Article Link: Apple Tasks Second Assembly Partner in India With iPhone 14 Production

 

[exoticSpice]

never the US.

 

[guywithdog]

never the US.

wages are too high.

 

[chineseguy38]

Anyway, no one wants iPhone 14 and 14 plus models. Just waste of time and money.

 

[DFZD]

So I can finally get it for $700 instead of the usual $1000.

 

[Apple_Gabe]

wages are too high.

Profit's not too bad either.

 

[shinemoon]

I am curious why apple suppliers are opening plant in India. Does China not have large capabilities. Almost every big brand is have manufacturing facilities / tie-ups in China.

 

[Mr Fusion]

never the US.

I think it could be done, but not in its current form…

Imagine an iPhone designed with minuscule components and assembled in a way that relies on advanced robotics to put the whole thing together, instead of using human hands & testing. It could probably be done with present-day tech, but due to the way labor costs and supply chains work, it simply isn’t realized.

So the factories could return… but would only need a handful of people to run them (instead of a city of 200k.)

 

[Dwalls90]

Good. Diversify out of China.

 

[citysnaps]

never the US.

Do you understand why that is?

 

[Ryan H]

Good idea diversifying and India are more than up to the job.

 

[Kottu]

If a worker who assemble these phones can afford an iPhone 14 with 2 month's salary, I can agree that they get paid well in India. But the truth is too far from it. So only motive to produce in India is to be cost-effective.

 

[Dwalls90]

never the US.

Will never happen because the US loves its capitalism too much. As long as profits and shareholders are first priority, companies will be forced to compete in the international economy, meaning manufacturing will not return to the US in the short term.

 

[SnappleRumors]

If a worker who assemble these phones can afford an iPhone 14 with 2 month's salary, I can agree that they get paid well in India.

Just a minute there’s a problem with your logic.

A Rolls Royce assembler in Goodwood, England cannot afford to buy a Rolls therefore they are poorly paid. Is that correct?

 

[Bokito]

I am curious why apple suppliers are opening plant in India. Does China not have large capabilities. Almost every big brand is have manufacturing facilities / tie-ups in China.

There are different reasons:
- Political reasons; tensions between US govt and China and China vs Taiwan
- Very strict coronavirus control, thus making it an unreliable country
- Phones produced in India don't receive heavy import taxes when sold inside the country
- Wage increases in China over the last decade, India is way cheaper

 

[chouseworth]

Apple ‘s biggest threat by far is further deterioration in US relations, if not cold or even hot war, with China. Apple is in an especially precarious position with so much of its revenue and market value literally at the mercy of a single foreign power. President Xi can virtually shut down Apple tomorrow if he wishes.

 

[jlc1978]

I think it could be done, but not in its current form…

Imagine an iPhone designed with minuscule components and assembled in a way that relies on advanced robotics to put the whole thing together, instead of using human hands & testing. It could probably be done with present-day tech, but due to the way labor costs and supply chains work, it simply isn’t realized.

I would hope computer/phone/etc. companies are looking at just that scenario. The more you remove the human labor by proper design the easier it is to manufacture in high labor areas and reduce dependance on one region of the world for product.

Since much tech is no longer user upgradable, putting as much as possible on a single chip is the wave of the future.

So the factories could return… but would only need a handful of people to run them (instead of a city of 200k.)

Very true. It's not just high tech either - old school industries such as carpet manufacturing are moving in that direction as well.

 

[richierich123]

I am curious why apple suppliers are opening plant in India. Does China not have large capabilities. Almost every big brand is have manufacturing facilities / tie-ups in China.

you seems to be a china-pro. Better read the news what's going on. All are moving out of China.

 

[barkomatic]

wages are too high.

I'm wearing a mechanical watch made in Switzerland where wages are higher than they are in the US -- and it cost me the same as an Apple Watch that doesn't require nearly the same amount of skill to assemble.

Obviously labor costs are cheaper overseas but the savings are exaggerated. The bigger issue is there isn't the same level of industrial concentration that is currently present in China--though they are working really hard to destroy that with their crazy Covid policies.

 

[clickerman]

I am a little surprised Apple, in playing "the long game" is moving some production to Taiwan. I think in the not too distant future China will be taking over China, and there is little the US or Taiwan can do about it.

 

[TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️]

I hope Apple releases a new color of the iPhone 14 Pro Max in Spring (March) Apple event. Hopefully, it will be assembled in India. I will definitely be placing an order

 

[GerryPL]

Will never happen because the US loves its capitalism too much. As long as profits and shareholders are first priority, companies will be forced to compete in the international economy, meaning manufacturing will not return to the US in the short term.

Without Capitalism you would not have innovation and technology advancements. Companies need money to pay people to do research and developement. And they get that money by growing their companies and paying dividends to attract people to invest. Capitalism provides opportunities for everyone. Do you have investments? Do you keep them in an investment company or bank with no interest for free? There are many reasons why manufacturing is harder in the US, and it has to do with our governments trade policies and union wage issues. And also the high corporate tax rates in the US to doing business. We are the highest in the world.

 

[tomtad]

I think it could be done, but not in its current form…

Imagine an iPhone designed with minuscule components and assembled in a way that relies on advanced robotics to put the whole thing together, instead of using human hands & testing. It could probably be done with present-day tech, but due to the way labor costs and supply chains work, it simply isn’t realized.

So the factories could return… but would only need a handful of people to run them (instead of a city of 200k.)

Bit pointless having the factory then

 

[Kottu]

Just a minute there’s a problem with your logic.

A Rolls Royce assembler in Goodwood, England cannot afford to buy a Rolls therefore they are poorly paid. Is that correct?

Nope.. Have you heard about protests in iPhone factory in India last year? The wages were too low compared to the work they were doing. In fact an iPhone manufacturing worker (can be a qualified engineer) make less than a daily wages worker and way too less than someone who is employed at public sector.

And.. iPhone doesn't fall in RR category. More like BMW/MB. So... yes an RR employee can afford a BMW or MB.

 

[PinkyMacGodess]

wages are too high.

Or is it that wages aren't high enough?

Henry Ford wanted to pay his workers enough to afford to buy the cars they were building, but in the headlong rush for profit above all, the American wage has decreased, or stagnated, and the price of imported goods has increased. Workers are a liability to increased profit for many manufacturers who see no problem exporting jobs and importing their products, but the people buying their stuff can't afford it, and personal debt has exploded. It can't last. That's been an issue with me, the chant of 'inflation', 'recession', 'unemployment'.