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Apple to move 40-45% iPhone production to India

wsj.com

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Re: Apple to move 40-45% iPhone production to India

#2
> Apple’s longer-term goal is to ship 40% to 45% of iPhones from India, compared with a single-digit percentage currently, according to Ming-chi Kuo, an analyst at TF International Securities who follows the supply chain. Suppliers say Vietnam is expected to shoulder more of the manufacturing for other Apple products such as AirPods, smartwatches and laptops.

Re: Apple to move 40-45% iPhone production to India

#3
post #2

> Apple’s longer-term goal is to ship 40% to 45% of iPhones from India, compared with a single-digit percentage currently, according to Ming-chi Kuo, an analyst at TF International Securities who follows the supply chain. Suppliers say Vietnam is expected to shoulder more of the manufacturing for other Apple products such as AirPods, smartwatches and laptops.

I'm surprised it's so low. I know that they already have very established processes in China, and their contractors have probably invested a lot in tooling for those factories, but it seems interesting that they would still prefer to move less that 50% of their capacity there.

Maybe they see India as carrying its own risks?

Re: Apple to move 40-45% iPhone production to India

#4
post #3
post #2

> Apple’s longer-term goal is to ship 40% to 45% of iPhones from India, compared with a single-digit percentage currently, according to Ming-chi Kuo, an analyst at TF International Securities who follows the supply chain. Suppliers say Vietnam is expected to shoulder more of the manufacturing for other Apple products such as AirPods, smartwatches and laptops.

I'm surprised it's so low. I know that they already have very established processes in China, and their contractors have probably invested a lot in tooling for those factories, but it seems interesting that they would still prefer to move less that 50% of their capacity there. Maybe they see India as carrying its own risks?

> India and Vietnam have their own challenges.

> Vietnam’s manufacturing was growing quickly but was short of workers. The country has just under 100 million people, less than a 10th of China’s population.

> India has a population nearly the size of China’s but not the same level of governmental coordination. Apple has found it hard to navigate India because each state is run differently and regional governments saddle the company with obligations before letting it build products there.

Re: Apple to move 40-45% iPhone production to India

#8
post #3
post #2

> Apple’s longer-term goal is to ship 40% to 45% of iPhones from India, compared with a single-digit percentage currently, according to Ming-chi Kuo, an analyst at TF International Securities who follows the supply chain. Suppliers say Vietnam is expected to shoulder more of the manufacturing for other Apple products such as AirPods, smartwatches and laptops.

I'm surprised it's so low. I know that they already have very established processes in China, and their contractors have probably invested a lot in tooling for those factories, but it seems interesting that they would still prefer to move less that 50% of their capacity there. Maybe they see India as carrying its own risks?

India has a lot of bureaucracy and protectionism. I also don't think they have any equivalent to China's special economic zones (free market economies where the usual rules don't apply) such as Shenzhen (Chinese Silicon Valley)

Re: Apple to move 40-45% iPhone production to India

#9
post #3
post #2

> Apple’s longer-term goal is to ship 40% to 45% of iPhones from India, compared with a single-digit percentage currently, according to Ming-chi Kuo, an analyst at TF International Securities who follows the supply chain. Suppliers say Vietnam is expected to shoulder more of the manufacturing for other Apple products such as AirPods, smartwatches and laptops.

I'm surprised it's so low. I know that they already have very established processes in China, and their contractors have probably invested a lot in tooling for those factories, but it seems interesting that they would still prefer to move less that 50% of their capacity there. Maybe they see India as carrying its own risks?

Asymco once mentioned that Apple designs and builds all the tooling.

Re: Apple to move 40-45% iPhone production to India

#10
Three hundred thousand workers work at a factory in China to make iPhones? I didn't realise how massive the production line is, considering they have a 23% market share, and the rest is all Android lead by Samsung. I am always surprised that Apple (or other Western tech giants) never considered building backup factories. Did they never think about geopolitics or natural disasters and panamics?

Apart from that iPhone will be cheaper in India because it cuts down all import duties, and who knows what other tax/land benefits the government of India/State government will provide them so that massive employment will be created. So it might help India in the long run, provided Indian governments give proper support to build these factories, especially in bureaucratic policies.

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