Apple is aiming to produce 1/4th of all iPhones in India, the Asian country’s commerce minister said on Monday.
Piyush Goyal, India’s minister of commerce and industry, says this is “another success story”, as he discussed business in the world’s 5th largest and 2nd most populous state.
During a conference, Goyal also claimed that “They’re already at about 5-7% of their manufacturing in India.” He also added that they’re aiming to raise that number to 25%.
In 2022, Apple began building its new iPhone 14 in India, making it the first product of their line to be made in the country so soon after its launch. Nevertheless, Apple has been producing older iPhone models in India since 2017.
The Taiwanese giant Foxconn, which is still the main assembler of the Cupertino-based company’s smartphones, is using its factory in the outskirts of Chennai in Eastern India.
Analysts from JPMorgan said in a note in September of 2022, that Apple’s manufacturing in India could reach 25% of all iPhones within the next 3 years.
Apple has been looking to diversify its production and move it out of China, where the majority of iPhones are currently made. Some weaknesses were discovered in the current production plan, when a COVID outbreak and worker strikes erupted at the world’s largest iPhone factory. This disrupted production in the Foxconn-run factory.
For the same reason Apple is also exploring bringing some of the iPad production to India. Even though the company has a mere 5% market share in India’s smartphone market, the tech giant’s CEO, Tim Cook, sees India as a potential area for growth.