Apple iPhone 14: Here's How India Gains As China Reels Under Strict Lockdown

Another company is set to manufacture Apple’s recently launched iPhone 14 In India as the tech giant looks to reduce its dependence on China due to regular Covid-19 lockdowns affecting the supply chain.

Apple's Taiwanese contract manufacturer Pegatron Corp has begun assembling the company's latest iPhone 14 model in India, Bloomberg reported on Friday.

With this Pegatron becomes the second Apple supplier to produce the iPhone 14 in the country. 

Apple's biggest Taiwanese suppliers -- Foxconn, Pegatron, and Wistron Corp. -- have ramped up iPhone assembly in India, as the country announces a financial incentives program. 

Apple is looking at making 25 per cent of its handsets in India by 2025 and shifting 5 per cent of global iPhone 14 production to India by the end of 2022, A report by JP Morgan said.

The development comes at a time when Apple's key iPhone Pro manufacturing hub in China’s Zhengzhou, operated by Foxconn Technology Group, was placed under an abrupt Covid-19 lockdown by authorities.

India is looking to compete with China and inviting companies to manufacture here, however, a major hurdle is a majority of iPhone components are still built in China and have to be shipped to wherever devices are assembled. 

Apple had already started diversifying iPhone manufacturing to reduce its dependence on China. 

In fact, in a first, Foxconn began making Apple’s latest iPhone 14 in India in September, weeks after its global unveiling and much closer to parity with the start of production in China.

However, the iPhone 14 Pro models are still being manufactured in China’s Zhengzhou as Foxconn still has exclusivity on them.

Apple first began assembling iPhones in India in 2017 via Wistron.

But the decision to make their flagship model in India is a noteworthy step as trade tensions between Beijing and Washington show no signs of letting up.

Another iPhone Manufacturing Factory In Tamil Nadu

After Foxconn and Wistron, Taiwan’s Pegatron in September became the third Apple vendor to set up a manufacturing unit in India. 

The Pegatron factory in Tamil Nadu, which employed more than 7,000 people, also began making iPhone 12 handsets earlier this year. 

The company said plans to invest Rs 1,100 crore in the unit, and create around 14,000 jobs.

Pegatron’s facility comes at a time when Apple is expected to move at least a quarter of its manufacturing facilities to India by 2025. 

China Lockdowns

China ordered an industrial park that houses Foxconn's iPhone factory to enter a seven-day lockdown on Wednesday.

Stringent lockdowns across China have hampered economic growth and taken a heavy financial toll on companies. It has also led to large-scale supply chain disruptions

As a result, global firms, including Apple, are looking to invest in other countries.

Foxconn is Apple's biggest iPhone maker, accounting for 70% of iPhone shipments globally. It makes most of the phones at the Zhengzhou plant where it employs about 200,000 people, though it has other smaller production sites in India and south China.

Foxconn workers complained about their treatment and provisions under Covid-19 prevention measures. There were also reports of several employees fleeing the factory in view of stringent Covid norms.

Amid this, Apple is looking to shift iPhone production and India has gained immensely and emerged as one of the crucial manufacturing hubs in the past few months as Foxconn, Pegatron, and Wistron look to ramp up production in the country.