Tech giant Apple is currently looking for ways to diversify its production from China as it eyes expansion to India.
Recently, India’s commerce minister while speaking at a conference disclosed that Apple is planning to manufacture 25% of its iPhones in the country.
In his words, “They’re (Apple) already at about 5-7 % of their manufacturing in India. If I am not mistaken, they are targeting to go up to 25% of their manufacturing”.
Reports disclose that Apple has started hiring retail store workers in India and has posted plans to fill many other roles as it prepares to open its flagship in the country.
On the company’s career page, it has listed openings for 12 different job functions as it seeks to fill in various locations within India. At least five employees in Mumbai and New Delhi have taken to their Linkedin profile to announce that they have been hired for Apple’s yet-to-be-announced stores.
Investors King understands that Apple’s expansion to India was necessitated after the tech giant witnessed a major disruption in its iPhone production in China due to covid-19 restrictions.
It would be recalled that in November last year, there was a violent worker revolt at the world’s largest iPhone factory Foxconn, which halted production and strained Apple’s supply.
Also, Apple’s shipments of its latest lineup of iPhones were temporarily impacted by Covid restrictions in China, which saw its assembly facility in Zhengzhou which normally houses about 200,000 workers operate at a reduced capacity due to covid curbs.
Analysts predicted that the woes that ravaged Foxconn, Apple’s top supplier in China, will speed up the pace of diversification away from China to countries like India, one of the largest smartphone markets in the world.
Last year, about 200 mn smartphones were made in India, ten times the number assembled in 2014. The report disclosed that while Apple’s market share in India is just 5 percent, it is growing quickly and leads the premium segment with two-fifth of all sales.
Following Apple’s expansion to India, experts in the country’s supply chain asset, disclosed that Apple aspires to control all parts of the consumer experience, from Apple-designed semiconductors in its smartphones to Apple store sales associates.