Apple is reportedly keen to have around a quarter of its iPhones built in India in a move that would greatly increase the number of devices built in the country.
Apple is reportedly in the middle of plans to move some manufacturing away from China in an attempt to reduce its reliance on the country that has struggled for consistency in recent years. Ongoing COVID-19 lockdowns and worker unrest have impacted the production of Apple’s best iPhone of late, leading to global shortages.
By moving manufacturing to India, it’s thought that Apple will ensure that Chinese uncertainty will not have such a large impact on production moving forward, with one report suggesting that the target for Indian iPhone production sits at 25%. It currently builds between 5% and 7% of all iPhones in the country.
“Apple, another success story”
Reuters reports that Indian minister Piyush Goyal believes that Apple intends to massively increase its manufacturing in the country. “They are already at about 5-7% of their manufacturing in India,” he’s reported as saying. “If I am not mistaken, they are targeting to go up to 25% of their manufacturing.”
It isn’t clear when Apple hopes to be able to reach such a lofty goal, however, but it’s increasingly clear that China’s loss will be India’s gain.
Apple’s reliance on China was brought into sharp relief towards the end of 2022. Issues at Foxconn’s Zhengzhou plant meant that global iPhone 14 Pro supplies were crippled, with Apple confirming that buyers would struggle to get their hands on the phone as a result.