INDIA: September is just around the corner and Apple is already set to launch iPhone 14 along with other products. However, the bigger surprise might not be the launch of the phone, but the place where it could be manufactured i.e, India.
According to reports, Apple is planning to start production of the iPhone 14 in India. The company has already started working with its local suppliers in India to speed up the production pace to reduce the production time of the new smartphone.
The iPhone 13 has reportedly started production in India, six to seven months after it was launched last September. Apple is trying to narrow this gap and catch up with China.
Taiwanese technology giant Foxconn, which is the main manufacturer of the iPhone, has studied a route where components could be shipped from China and assembled at the company’s plant outside the southern Indian city of Chennai.
Accordingly, the iPhone 14s is expected to ship from the Indian factory in late October or early November. However, Apple and Foxconn remain committed to their long-term goal of starting the manufacturing process simultaneously in India and China.
A slowdown in China’s economy, coupled with a supply chain breakdown and frequent power outages, compounded by a heat wave, has made the manufacturing climate difficult.
However, it is China’s “zero tolerance for Covid” policy that has hurt businesses the most. According to reports, the total lockdowns in Shanghai and Kunshan may have been the last straw to make Apple reconsider its plans for manufacturing in mainland China.
Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s clarion call to ‘Make in India’, the country has become a bright spot for manufacturers. Apple already produces the iPhone 13, iPhone 12 and iPhone 11 locally. The production of the iPhone 14, around the same time as China, is expected to be another big milestone in the country’s developing manufacturing prowess.
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