Apple is said to be looking to move nearly a fifth of iPhone production to India in an effort to cut its reliance on Chinese manufacturing, according to The Indian Economic Times who claim as a result, up to $40 billion worth of smartphones could be made in the country.
Contract manufacturers Wistron and Foxconn, who already handle iPhone production for Apple across China, are said to be the two main partners who would head up the increased iPhone production in India.
The report claims Apple has met with Indian officials over the last few months to discuss the possibility of moving a portion of its production capacity to the country after Apple began making iPhone models in India during 2017.
Several meetings between Apple’s senior executives and top ranking government officials over the last few months have paved the way for the iPhone maker examining the possibility of shifting nearly a fifth of its production capacity from China to India and scaling up its local manufacturing revenues, through its contract manufacturers, to around $40 billion over the next five years, say officials familiar with the matter.
The decision to move more production to India is said to be linked with the country’s PLI scheme, which was introduced to boost local manufacturing of electrical products, particularly smartphones.
Apple announced earlier this year that it will open its first Apple Store in India during 2021, with an official online store launching later this year.