Apple’s Expansion Into India May Continue With iPad Production Change – SlashGear

Apple started assembling iPhones in India in 2017, with the iPhone SE being its first. In 2020, Apple started manufacturing the iPhone 11 in India, marking the first time that a high-end Apple smartphone was being rolled off an Indian assembly line. Another landmark was achieved with the iPhone 14 in 2022, which was the first time that Apple started manufacturing a new iPhone in India in the same calendar year as its launch.

Aside from making a current-gen iPhone via Foxconn in India, Apple also diversified its portfolio of contract manufacturers in the country by offloading some of the orders to Pegatron, reports Bloomberg. Foxconn, meanwhile, has quadrupled its workforce in India to handle the iPhone shortage. According to a Reuters report, JP Morgan estimates that Apple will move nearly 25% of iPhone production to India by 2025. As for the iPad and Apple Watch, Vietnam is expected to bag 20% of the net production volume. The company is also mulling Malaysia and the U.S. as possible production sites.

Apple is reportedly wary of the supply disruptions caused by COVID-19-related challenges in China, which have already derailed the iPhone 14 Pro market availability. However, China will continue to be a major player in Apple’s design and manufacturing operations. Cheap labor, coupled with the availability of talent and established channels that convert product blueprints into assembly plans, make China the only place where manufacturing will remain concentrated for the foreseeable future.