Following yesterday’s promise of a major investment in the Indian market from Google there’s another Indian investment story in the news, this time relating to Apple products manufacturer Foxconn.
According to Reuters, the Taiwanese contract manufacturer plans to invest up to $1 billion to expand a factory in southern India where it assembles Apple iPhones.
This is, not too surprisingly, seen as part of an ongoing strategy to move some Apple production centres away from China, given news of further tensions between China and the US.
However, India is also the world’s second-biggest smartphone market and this move would bring some of Apple’s phones closer to consumers as well as saving on import taxes. In addition, such a move, if it goes ahead, could be partly influenced by Indian government incentives, announced recently, to encourage local production.
We’re still waiting for clear guidance from both Foxconn and Apple on the plans, but Reuters suggests that there will be a three-year investment by Foxconn in the Sriperumbur plant some 50 km west of Chennai in Tamil Nadu. The plant makes Apple’s iPhone XR, but some of Apple’s other iPhone models could also be made there.
Whatever else this move implies, it could be a major boost for jobs in the region. It might even signal further investment. Foxconn Chairman Liu Young-way is already in record as having said that Foxconn plans to ramp up its investment in India.
