According to two government sources with knowledge of the situation, Apple supplier Foxconn intends to treble the workforce at its iPhone manufacturing in India over the course of two years, indicating a production shift as it deals with problems in China.
Tight virus limitations at Foxconn's Zhengzhou facility, the largest iPhone manufacturing in the world, have made headlines lately, disrupting production and raising questions about how China's viral policy could affect global supply chains.
Apple's sales prognosis for the busy year-end holiday season has been dimmed as a result of the disruptions, which caused Apple to decrease its forecast for shipments of the premium iPhone 14 models this week.
According to the sources, who asked to remain anonymous because the talks are confidential, Taiwan-based Foxconn now intends to increase the workforce at its plant in southern India to 70,000 by hiring 53,000 more workers over the next two years.
Although Foxconn's Zhengzhou facility, which employs 200,000 people, dwarfs Apple's Tamil Nadu plant in terms of size, it is crucial to Apple's aspirations to move production away from China.
In 2019, Foxconn, formerly known as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd, opened a facility in India and has since increased output. This year saw the start of iPhone 14 production.
Although Foxconn is known to be interested in growing the factory, neither the size nor the timing of the expansion have previously been disclosed.
Apple and Foxconn both declined to comment.
On a Thursday results call, Foxconn Chairman Liu Young-way stated that the business would modify its production capacity and output to ensure that there would be no impact from additional potential supply disruptions for the Christmas and Lunar New Year holidays.
According to the first government source, Foxconn has informed Tamil Nadu officials of its plans to step up recruiting at the Indian facility as a result of problems in China.
The factory also produces goods for other international tech companies in addition to iPhones, but the latest hiring drive is primarily motivated by the need to satisfy rising iPhone demand, the source stated.
Foxconn is reportedly expanding operations in India to increase its capacity for entry-level models and to satisfy Indian demand, according to a person with knowledge of the situation in Taiwan.
At least three of Apple's international partners currently assemble iPhones in India: Wistron in nearby Karnataka state, Foxconn and Pegatron in Tamil Nadu. In September, JP Morgan analysts predicted that Apple might produce one in four iPhones in India by 2025 and that, up from 5% today, 25% of all Apple products, including Mac, iPad, Apple Watch, and AirPods, would be made outside of China by then.
