Wayne Ma Reports That Political Tensions Are Making It Difficult for Apple to Shift More iPhone Production From China to India

Wayne Ma, reporting for The Information (paywalled, alas):

Earlier this year, Chinese authorities refused to allow one of Apple’s Chinese equipment suppliers to export machinery to India that Apple needed for the upcoming iPhone 17’s trial production, according to two people with direct knowledge of the matter. So the supplier got creative.

It set up a front company in Southeast Asia to buy the machines. Once the equipment reached the Southeast Asian country, it went to a factory in India operated by Foxconn, the Taiwanese company that builds most of Apple’s iPhones in China, the people said.

Ian Malcolm: “Life finds a way.” So too with Apple getting what it wants.

India is already assembling between 30 million and 40 million iPhones a year — as much as one-fifth of the iPhone’s global production, according to people involved in Apple’s India supply chain. Apple is planning to increase iPhone production in India by around 10% this year, one of those people said. The company has a long-term goal of moving about half of its iPhone production out of China, according to other people involved in Apple’s supply chain. [...]

Increasingly, though, just getting that manufacturing equipment to India is a hassle. In many cases, Chinese authorities are delaying or blocking shipments of iPhone equipment to India without explanation, according to multiple people involved in iPhone production.

Foxconn has seen approval times from Chinese authorities for exporting iPhone-making equipment from its China factories to those in India rise from two weeks to as long as four months, one of the people said. They are also rejecting some export applications without explanation, the person added.

The equipment Chinese authorities are scrutinizing includes high-precision lasers that weld metal parts to the frames of iPhones, air leak test stations that measure how waterproof the devices are, and machines that can identify, grab and move parts from one location to another, known as pick-and-place machines, according to three people involved in iPhone manufacturing.

Hardball tactics on all sides here.

★ Friday, 25 April 2025