In a big push to Narendra Modi’s ‘Make In India’ campaign, Foxconn technology, the maker of most of Apple iPhone’s components is in talks with government officials, for manufacturing those iPhone/iPad units in India, as stated by a Reuters report.
China’s surging wage inflation is being considered one of the primary factors for such a move.
Another positive vibe for Foxconn would be that lower production prices may help the company to keep hold of Apple orders. This could prove vital because of the intensifying competition with other manufacturing rivals such as Quanta Computer Inc.
According to Subhash Desai, Industries Minister of Maharashtra, Foxconn is sending a delegation of their officers to scout for locations in a month’s time. The company aims to set up 10-12 facilities in India which include factories and data centers by the year 2020, but they have not yet elaborated on the same.
According to Desai, Foxconn hasn’t yet made any firm commitments, but the group is aiming to manufacture iPhones, iPads and iPods, for both domestic as well as global markets.
Apple has just a little above 10 percent market share in India and it trails Samsung and local manufacturers such as Micromax, which dominate the market here, according to Counterpoint Research Market Monitor.
However, Apple has been witnessing a surge in growth in the Indian market. The Cupertino-giant recently clocked $1 Billion in revenues from India, which though is hardly a fraction of its China revenues, still shows increasing demands for Apple products within the subcontinent. Realising that demand, Apple was reportedly gearing up to open as many as 500 Apple stores within the country. Those plans seem to have fizzled out though.
Foxconn was to set up camp in India last year but it was forced to shut up because its then client, Nokia, closed.
Apple is currently one of the biggest clients of Foxconn– the trade name for Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd. Other notable clients being Xiaomi, Acer and Sony.
According to census, India has the second-highest number of mobile phone accounts behind China and by the year 2019, the country will have 650 million smartphones, predicts networking solutions company Cisco Systems. Also, the number of tablets will increase 9 percent to 18.7 million units.
1 comment