According to Bloomberg News, Apple’s foundry Foxconn has started production of the iPhone 15 in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, in order to further reduce its Indian business and its main manufacturing base in mainland China.
The Foxconn factory in Sriperumbudur is “preparing for delivery” of the new iPhones, which will come a few weeks after the Chinese factory starts shipping, the report said. Before the iPhone 14, Apple’s share of iPhone assembly in India was only a small fraction, and it was six to nine months behind production in China. The report also said that this “delay” was shortened last year, with Apple producing 7% of its iPhones in India by the end of March.
Apple is trying to synchronize shipments from India and China this year, but the company’s suppliers are not sure if it will be possible, the report said. The report also pointed out that the scale of iPhone 15 production in India will depend on a variety of factors, including the availability of components, most of which are imported, and the gradual ramp-up of production lines at Foxconn’s factory outside Chennai.
Other Apple suppliers in India — Pegatron and Visionox, which is being acquired by Tata Group — will also reportedly start assembling the iPhone 15 “soon.”
It is noticed that Apple CEO Tim Cook said in the company’s recent earnings call that since India is the world’s second-largest smartphone market, “we should do very well there, and I’m very confident that we will The growth there is very satisfying, but we still only have very, very low-end and low-end smartphone market share. So I think this is a huge opportunity for us, and we are working hard to achieve it.”
The new iPhone 15 series is expected to be released on September 12.
