Apple is accelerating toward making 25% of iPhones in India

More news from India as reports claim Apple is accelerating toward its goal to build 25%+ (one in four) iPhones sold worldwide in India, even as one of the nation’s biggest conglomerates announces another huge investment in factories in which to make the things.

Up, up, and away

First strike comes from the Wall Street Journal, which once again says Apple plans to make a quarter of all the iPhones it sells (about 50 million or so) in India. The report gives a time scale of up to three years but given the rapid roll out it feels very much as if the schedule will be predicated by the length of time it takes to build plant and train/recruit skilled staff.

The production increase, according to the WSJ, will be driven by Foxconn’s new plant in India’s Karnataka state. That factory is going to be churning out up to 20 million iPhones each year within the coming years, the report said – and Foxconn is investing in a second large plant which may double that capacity.

There’s always a way

However, the WSJ report may only grasp half the pudding, as since it appeared we’ve learned that new iPhone manufacturer, India’s Tata Group, is also making a huge investment in another new iPhone factory. WSJ wasn’t aware of this when it wrote:

“Combined with plans for expanded production at an existing Foxconn plant near Chennai and at another existing plant recently bought by Indian conglomerate Tata, these developments signify that Apple intends to have the capacity to make at least 50 million to 60 million iPhones in India annually within two to three years.”

The addition of a new Tata iPhone factory may either accelerate the move toward raising production or raise the eventual quantity of iPhones made in India, or both.

Local reports claim the new Tata Group iPhone factory aims to be operational within 12-18 months. Once operational, this will be a huge factory hosting 20 assembly lines and employing 50,000 workers. Tata now operates the former Wistron factory in Karnataka.

Tata also makes iPhone enclosures at its factory in Hosur, and plans to launch 100 Apple-focused retail stores in India.

It’s about what you do

To put things into perspective, Apple currently makes around 7% of iPhones it sells worldwide in India. The mission now seems to be to triple or quadruple that amount as the company seeks to build a more resilient supply chain in which all its products are no longer made in one nation.

In related news, Apple continues to invest in production in Vietnam and is also now encouraging component manufacturers to diversify their own manufacturing base across multiple nations.

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