Taiwanese company Pegatron has become the second contract manufacturer to begin assembly of the iPhone 14 in India as Apple seeks to diversify manufacturing and reduce reliance on China for supplies, reported Bloomberg News Friday citing unnamed sources.
Assembly of the newly launched iPhone started in India in late September by Foxconn at its Sriperumbudur factory in Tamil Nadu days after the global launch of the iPhone 14 series in the United States. The new iPhones were launched on September 7 at the company’s headquarters in Cupertino.
Analysts had predicted that Apple could begin production of the iPhone 14 earlier than previous models. For example, iPhone 13 assembly began in India in April, more than six months after its launch in September 2021.
Apple could shift 5% of iPhone 14 production to India by the end of 2022 and manufacture one in five iPhones in India by 2025, JP Morgan analysts said in September, Reuters reported.
Pegatron has become the three contract manufacturers to manufacture iPhones in India. The latest iPhone along with the iPhone 13, iPhone 12 and iPhone 11 are currently being assembled at Foxconn’s facility in Sriperumbudur. The iPhone SE is assembled in India by Wistron, another contract manufacturer.
Pegatron is looking to expand its manufacturing capacity in India. In September, it announced an investment of ₹1,100 crore to build a new mobile phone manufacturing plant in Chengalpattu district near Chennai. Pegatron says the new facility will generate 14,000 jobs.
India is emerging as one of the manufacturing destinations for smartphone makers who want to diversify their manufacturing base post Covid-19. The Indian government’s Production Linked Incentive (PLI) programs that provide tax incentives for exporting electronic products have also encouraged phone brands to expand assembly in India.
India’s total electronics exports reached $16 billion in FY22, with mobile phones accounting for nearly 33%, according to a joint report by the India Cellular and Electronics Association (ICEA) and of the policy think tank Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER), published in August.
Mobile phones are expected to account for nearly 50% of total electronics exports by March 2023, the report adds.
