Apple supplier Foxconn Technology Group is adding additional iPhone production capacity to an existing factory in India as part of its push to diversify its supply chain beyond China.
Taiwan-based Foxconn, the world’s largest electronics contract manufacturer, will soon begin phone production in a new building at an existing factory near Chennai, capital of the southern state of Tamil Nadu. India, according to local media outlet The Economic Times, citing unnamed sources.
The report says the move follows the company’s hiring season in the country in recent weeks.
Do you have questions about the biggest topics and trends around the world? Get the answers with SCMP Knowledge, our new curated content platform with explainers, FAQs, analysis and infographics brought to you by our award-winning team.
Foxconn did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Foxconn shares rose 1.2 percent in Shanghai to 9.5 yuan (US$1.40) and 1.5 percent in Taipei to TW$48.70 (US$1.60) friday morning Its Hong Kong-listed unit FIH Mobile fell nearly 1% to HK$1.03 (US 13 cents).
In recent years, Apple and Foxconn have stepped up efforts to expand their supply chains outside mainland China, particularly in India and Vietnam, which encourage local production. Supply chains have faced a turbulent couple of years amid disruptions from the Covid-19 pandemic and geopolitical conflicts.
Foxconn has established more than 40 industrial parks in mainland China, according to its website, more than in any other country. But frequent pandemic lockdowns and other disasters have slowed production. Amid small outbreaks in Shenzhen this year, company complexes in the city were twice forced to operate under a “closed loop,” a policy in China that requires employees to live and work on the premises of the company so that the factories remain open.
All three Foxconn complexes in Zhengzhou, in central Henan province, suspended hiring new workers in May after the local government imposed a seven-day lockdown as part of Covid-19 control measures. The combined capacity of these facilities makes the city the largest iPhone manufacturer in the world.
The story continues
Men ride their motorbikes past a shuttered Foxconn plant in Chennai, India, which makes iPhones for Apple, on December 21, 2021. Photo: Reuters alt=Men ride their motorbikes past d ‘a shuttered Foxconn plant in Chennai, India, which makes iPhones for Apple, on December 21, 2021. Photo: Reuters>
Two of these facilities in Zhengzhou were also affected last summer by the catastrophic flooding that hit the province, causing tens of thousands of Foxconn workers to be furloughed.
Amid these setbacks and growing US trade restrictions, Foxconn has remained committed to manufacturing in mainland China, a critical part of the global electronics supply chain. However, new geopolitical tensions between Taipei and Beijing threaten to create more headaches for Taiwanese companies.
After US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited the island and met with President Tsai Ing-wen, Beijing deployed the People’s Liberation Army to the island and embarked on military drills real fire that disrupted maritime and air traffic. It also banned the import of certain fish and fruits and stopped the export of sand, which is used for construction projects.
Foxconn has been looking to increase its presence in India for years. In 2015, the company said it would build 12 factories in the country, employing nearly 1 million workers. It currently has only one plant near Chennai, sometimes known as the “Detroit of Asia” because of its industrial base.
Late last year, the plant was temporarily closed after worker protests over food safety. Production lines reopened in January.
Also last year, Vietnam approved a plan for Foxconn to build a US$270 million plant that would produce laptops and tablets. The company said it had invested $1.5 billion in the country by the end of 2020 and would invest another $700 million in 2021. The company said last year it aims to achieve $40 billion in revenue in the southern nation -East Asia within three to three. five years
This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for over a century. For more SCMP stories, explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright © 2022 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.
Copyright (c) 2022. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.