Foxconn plans $1 billion iPhone component factory in India

Lots of news from India once again, as Foxconn announces an iPhone components factory and invests tens of millions in equipment to support its planned expansion there.

We make components here now

Foxconn will invest c.$700 million to construct a new manufacturing plant in the southern India’s Karnataka state. M. B. Patil, Karnataka minister of large & medium industries and infrastructure development, said Hon Hai subsidiary Foxconn Industrial Internet will invest $1.07 billion in the state.

“FII, a global leader & maker of network devices for IIoT-based smart manufacturing, aims to revolutionize the tech industry by developing high-quality outer covers for iPhones. The state is ready to provide full support, offering land required to setup the manufacturing unit, in the 100 acres of land available in the Japanese industrial Park near Tumakuru,” Patil wrote.

The project is expected to create around 14,000 jobs, and will produce screens, outer coverings, and mechanical components for iPhones.

To expand production, the company also purchased $33 million worth of equipment from an Apple unit called Apple Operations Ltd. over the last year. The company is now also manufacturing components there.

iPhone manufacture is growing fast

This is reflected in the number of iPhones churning out of India at this time. Production trebled in FY 22, with almost 7% of iPhones sold globally made in India.

In May, India’s Minister of State for Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar confirmed Apple wants to increase production in India, one month after Apple CEO Tim Cook visited the nation to open stores there.

iPhone sales are also increasing

The investments are also impacting Apple’s status in India. Counterpoint data recently confirmed India has become one of Apple’s top five iPhone markets for the first time, overtaking France, and Germany.

At this point, one in twenty-five (4%) of smartphones sold in India are iPhones, up 50% since last year. Apple now holds over 5% of India’s total smartphone market into the end of June.

Morgan Stanley predicts India could account for 15% of Apple’s revenue growth across the next five years, contributing $40 billion to the company’s bottom line.

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