Apple Inc’s Taiwanese contract manufacturer Pegatron Corp has started assembling the company’s latest iPhone 14 model in India. The move makes Pegatron the second Apple supplier to produce the iPhone 14 in the country, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg News, refusing to be identified as the manufacturing plan is not public.
This comes at a time when Apple’s major iPhone Pro manufacturing hub in the Chinese city of Zhengzhou, run by Foxconn Technology Group, was suddenly put under COVID-19 lockdown by authorities. That position highlighted Apple’s deep dependence on China, although India’s expansion was in line with diversification plans, the people said.
Representatives for Apple and Pegatron declined to comment.
Foxconn began making the iPhone 14 in India in September, just weeks after its global unveiling and nearing parity with the start of production in China, where most iPhones are still made. Apple’s main production partner still has specifications on the iPhone Pro model, which it assembles in Zhengzhou.
The Pegatron factory in India’s southern Tamil Nadu state, which employed more than 7,000 as of the end of September, also began making iPhone 12 handsets earlier this year. The Pegatron usually gets orders for entry-level models from Apple.
India iPhone reseller Reddington has grown since Foxconn’s crisis erupted
Cupertino, Calif.-based Apple is exploring alternative production centers amid a trade war between Washington and Beijing and tighter enforcement of Xi Jinping’s COVID Zero policy in China.At the same time, New Delhi is positioning India as a competitor to China’s manufacturing capacity. Local Apple reseller Reddington’s value has soared over the past week after Foxconn’s coronavirus issues surfaced.
Counterpoint senior analyst Evan Lam said a major obstacle to shifting more production out of China is that most iPhone components are still made there and must be shipped wherever the devices are assembled.All of Apple’s biggest Taiwanese suppliers – Foxconn, Pegatron and Wistron Corp – have boosted iPhone assembly in India, boosting Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s financial incentive program. This has also helped in increasing iPhone exports from the South Asian country.
content credit: https://indianexpress.com/