Some iPhone 15 Models Expected to Ship From India at Launch as Shift Away From China Continues

[MacRumors]

Apple plans to ship iPhone 15 models from India upon the device's launch – a first for the launch of a new iPhone lineup, signalling the company's gradual progress in diversifying its supply chain away from China, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports.

Casings for the iPhone 15 have reportedly started to be made in India by local suppliers such as Jabil, which already assembles AirPods enclosures and has plans to expand to the Apple Pencil in the future. The iPhone 15 Plus, iPhone 15 Pro, and iPhone 15 Pro Max will continue to be made exclusively in China.

Apple has experienced quality control issues with some Indian suppliers, limiting manufacturers to certain models and color options. Earlier this year, the Financial Times reported that only one in two iPhone casings coming off Tata's production line in India "is in good enough shape" to be sent forward to assembly at Foxconn.

In previous years, initial batches of new iPhones have exclusively been made in China, before India comes on stream gradually in the following months. With the iPhone 15 lineup, Apple apparently expects to ship new devices from both countries simultaneously for the first time. See the full report for more information on Apple's efforts to shift production away from China.

Article Link: Some iPhone 15 Models Expected to Ship From India at Launch as Shift Away From China Continues

 

[MayaUser]

Beautiful thing

 

[frownface]

Interesting. I wonder which countries would get phones from india, and which from china.

Presumably countries that have tariffs on some chinese goods would presumably get theirs from india.

 

[3530025]

That's a good thing I guess. Less dependency on China. I believe good QC will make unrecognizable actual origin country.

 

[TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️]

This is such an amazing news! Years in the making. I can't wait to track our new iPhones coming from India directly.

 

[definitive]

That's a good thing I guess. Less dependency on China. I believe good QC will make unrecognizable actual origin country.

Is it? Less dependency on China, and more on India.

 

[floral]

Is it? Less dependency on China, and more on India.

Well, do you see India doing anything bad? I think it's a nice little win for us. Small, but needed.

 

[usersince86]

Diversification of product assembly makes a lot of sense in today's world.

Most of all, I hope people working in the factories are getting paid beneficial, life-giving wages.

 

[Marbles1]

Excellent news. Will be great to be know that at least some apple products are manufactured in a democracy. India is not perfect but it's a million miles from China in terms of freedoms.

 

[5105973]

Deleted. Don’t want to get into it.

Edit: more to the point, I research even my snarky comments to back them up. My snark didn’t stand the test of time. I had exclaimed shock that Tim Cook who had once dismissed US manufacturing potential was willing to accept a 50% failure rate while they get the hang of manufacturing over in India. At one time he did dismiss the US. But when I went to source his quote on it, I found out he’s since been investing in US manufacturing.


Snark is fun but disinformation is disgusting. I won’t be one to perpetuate it.

 

[MacWiz_007]

Imagine if they were made in and then shipped from the US, like Apple products used to be. Wouldn't that be something! I'd personally be happy to pay whatever premium was added on. I realize not everyone would be willing or able to pay it though.

 

[definitive]

Deleted. Don’t want to get into it.

you had a valid point, and it was true. deleting it will only give more reason for them to keep doing what they're doing. oh well.

 

[BootsWalking]

Cook took colleagues to an Apple retail store in Beijing and met privately with high-ranking government officials to discuss the company’s operations. “This has been a symbiotic kind of relationship that I think we both enjoyed,” he told the audience

It has since become a parasitic relationship, like how a virus such as SARS-CoV-2 kills millions of hosts it cohabitates.

 

[RalfTheDog]

Is it? Less dependency on China, and more on India.

I think it is more about the war than anything.

 

[5105973]

you had a valid point, and it was true. deleting it will only give more reason for them to keep doing what they're doing. oh well.

No, I did quick research and it’s more complicated than my snarky comment. What Tim said dismissing US manufacturing in the past is clearly something he’s learned a hard lesson on and moved past. I need to get over it, too. Times are changing:

Tim Cook says Apple will use US-made chips for the first time in nearly a decade as the tech giant turns away from Asian manufacturing

Apple's planning to source chips from TSMC's Arizona plant, as the tech giant navigates geopolitical tensions and China's strict COVID-19 measures.

www.businessinsider.com

 

[RalfTheDog]

Deleted. Don’t want to get into it.

I can't believe you would say such a thing. Ice cream may not be healthy, but a total ban would be wrong.

 

[The_Martini_Cat]

Everyone is like wow India. I’m like one out of two casings? What’s the China rate? & what is a casing🍸😹, is it like the frame?

 

[definitive]

I think it is more about the war than anything.

That's a part of it. The issue I see with this is that many companies are pretty much giving China, and other countries with cheap labor access to their technology for almost nothing, and then they become reliant on them. Think of when the COVID19 pandemic started. There was shortage of many things. At times, even some medicine was in limited supply. It makes things tough when a country you rely on decides not to play ball.

 

[tipoo]

Good. The CCP is going to drive a major conflict in the coming decades, India is a non-expansionist democracy. You can criticize it for certain things (as you can every country in the world) but it's far better than the CCP, which seem to be setting up for a Taiwan invasion.

Apple should have done this earlier, but it's good to really drive that push now.

 

[t0rqx]

Wait. Nobody is concerned about "good enough" quality instead of excellent?

 

[kenny7]

I assume it will be a small amount, mainly for consumption in India. Still, a step in the right direction for supply chain diversification

 

[Realityck]

This is such an amazing news! Years in the making. I can't wait to track our new iPhones coming from India directly.

Two thoughts, first quality of products made there, new factory not exactly something you tend to ignore. Second Foxcomm already has other stuff made in Vietnam and elsewhere that shown consistently of quality. This news might be more some stuff might come from there eventually but likely to go mostly to serving up products for their huge user base.

 

[Verified Whiskey]

This is great news. Anything to get out of China’s stranglehold. I’m just glad that Apple has such strict quality control because otherwise this could be a step backwards.

 

[kaycrystal626]

Well, it's still run by Foxconn.

 

[majus]

India is not perfect but it's a million miles from China in terms of freedoms.

Do you not not know of the caste system? One cannot consider that democratic.