By Ahmed Rahma
Apple said it has started to assemble iPhone 12 in India for the local market. The United States tech giant is making efforts to gradually shifting some areas of production from China to other markets.
The company is taking this step so as not to be the loser in the trade war between Washington and Beijing.
Besides, India is one of its biggest markets as the Asian nation is the world’s second-biggest smartphone market and it makes sense to consider producing its gadgets from the country with over one billion people.
“We are proud to be starting production of iPhone 12 in India for our local customers,” Apple said in a statement on Thursday, without naming the supplier making the smartphone.
But Reuters quoted two sources familiar with the matter that the company is the Indian unit of Apple’s Taiwanese contract manufacturer Foxconn. It will assemble the device in its plant in southern Tamil Nadu state.
However, Foxconn did not immediately respond to a request for comment as it has previously said it does not comment on client-specific work.
A person familiar with the matter said in November Foxconn is moving some iPad and MacBook assembly to Vietnam from China at its request.
Cupertino, California-headquartered Apple has bet big on India since it begin iPhone assembly in the country in 2017 via another Taiwanese supplier, Wistron.
Foxconn, Wistron and a third supplier Pegatron have together committed roughly $900 million over five years to make iPhones in India, leveraging New Delhi’s $6.7 billion plan to boost smartphone exports.
“Nice to see our efforts to make India a big hub of mobile and components manufacturing is attracting global attention,” India’s technology minister Ravi Shankar Prasad tweeted following news of iPhone 12 production in India.
“This will create jobs in large numbers.”
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