Foxconn sends Chinese employees to India to oversee operations and train employees. However, not many employees sent to India understand English and do not know enough about the local culture.

Foxconn has nearly copied its factories in mainland China, using machines from the country and many devices with Mandarin text and instructions.

Foxconn factory in Sunguvarchatram, signage at the entrance of SIPCOT Industrial Park, Source: Rest of World

A senior Indian manager said: “Including standard operating procedures, work instructions, and commands, all machine documents are written in Mandarin, the software interface is also in Mandarin, and even the emergency button is not localized.”

Employees have started using translation apps and communicating using basic body language, with human translators helping, but overall the expansion of Foxconn’s India factories has not been as fast as expected.

The government’s attempt to legislate an eight-hour working day in Indian law was shelved after major protests.

Chinese employees posted to India were shocked by the schedules adhered to in India, with one manager lamenting: “In addition to working 8 hours a day, there are breaks built into the shift. You just settle into your seat and the next break comes the time has come.”

Foxconn China uses extra wages and bonuses to attract workers who work longer shifts. It tried a similar tactic in India, but to no avail — Indian workers refused to work overtime.

The report states that Foxconn’s Sunguvarchathram plant currently assembles iPhone 15 models, accounting for less than 10%.

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Recent supply chain disruptions at Foxconn prompted Apple this week to lower its forecast for shipments of the iPhone 14 Pro line of models, dampening sales prospects during the busy year-end holiday season.

Foxconn opened its India facility in 2019 and has been ramping up production, starting with the iPhone 14 series this year. Foxconn is known to be interested in expanding the facility, but has not previously announced the size or timeline of the planned expansion.

A government source in India said that Foxconn Tamil Nadu will accelerate its plans to hire at the Indian plant. Also in addition to the iPhone, the plant makes products for other global technology companies, but the new hiring is primarily to meet growing demand for iPhone production.

On Oct. 27, India’s state investment promotion department said senior government officials had traveled to meet with Hon Hai Chairman Liu Yangwei to “discuss in detail Foxconn’s new venture and investment plans” and to offer government support.

The state is holding discussions with suppliers to address issues such as worker housing facilities as it looks to expand, the officials said.

Two government sources added that officials in Tamil Nadu, an electronics and automotive manufacturing hub, are also pushing Apple suppliers to expand into manufacturing components for the iPhone, rather than just assembling them.

Currently, the Indian iPhone is being assembled by at least three Apple global suppliers: Foxconn and PEGATRON in Tamil Nadu; and Wistron in the nearby state of Karnataka.

Analysts at JPMorgan Chase predicted in September that Apple could produce two-quarters of the world’s iPhones in India by 2025 and that 25 percent of all Apple products, including Macs, iPads, Apple Watches and AirPods, will be made overseas by 2025, up from 5 percent today.

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Apple reportedly began assembling smartphones locally in India back in 2017. But until this year, the company had not introduced a local production line for the latest generation of iPhones.

“We are excited to produce iPhone 14 in India,” a company spokesperson said in a statement in response. Earlier this month, Apple officially introduced the iPhone 14 line of smartphones at its fall launch event.

"Analysts expect India to become the new global manufacturing hub for iPhones by 2025 as Apple tries to gradually reduce its reliance on Chinese foundries -- where it has been making most of its devices for the past decade or so.

In a report earlier this month, analysts at JPMorgan said Apple will shift 5 percent of global iPhone 14 production to India and expand local manufacturing capacity by the end of 2022, rising to 25 percent by 2025."

In recent years, the Indian government has been working to turn the country into a manufacturing hub and has attracted investment from Apple’s manufacturing partners Foxconn and Wistron through lucrative subsidies.

JPMorgan analysts added: India’s attractiveness to foreign production giants is also growing, attracted by the abundant local labor resources, and competitive labor costs.

"Previously the Indian iPhone supply chain has been focused only on older models, but interestingly, Apple has asked EMS suppliers to produce iPhone 14 / 14 Plus models in India in the 4th quarter of 2022.

This timing is within 2-3 months of the start of production in mainland China, and the shorter interval means that Indian production is increasingly important, and India may get a bigger piece of the iPhone manufacturing pie in the future."

As to why only the iPhone 14 / 14 Plus models are being primarily taken up at this stage, analysts speculate that the iPhone 14 Pro series has a more complex camera module and higher demand for entry-level models in the local market (local manufacturing is more tax efficient).

Even so, analysts expect relatively limited initial sales in the fourth quarter of 2022 — a million units per month, or about 5 percent of total iPhone sales.

Finally, as Apple expands its local manufacturing capabilities in India, many expect the iPhone to be sold more cheaply in the country.

"For reference, the iPhone 14 entry-level model is priced at $799 in the U.S. but Rs. 79,900 in India.

The iPhone 14 Pro Max also starts at $1099 in the U.S. and is priced at around $1717 in India."

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Made in-India version of the iPhone 14 still lags behind China

Ming-Chi Kuo Says India iPhone 14 Mass Production Schedules Are 6 Weeks Behind

But at the end of last month, people familiar with the matter said Apple plans to start producing the latest flagship in India two months after the first iPhone 14 made in China hit the market. While India has closed the gap with China in iPhone production, it’s not quite catching up as some had expected. Constrained by secrecy and other factors, Apple and Foxconn believe it’s unrealistic to produce the iPhone 14 in both India and China this year.

Kuo also said that while India still lags behind China in iPhone 14 production, the gap has narrowed significantly, so it’s reasonable to expect that India will be able to produce the new iPhone 15 at the same time as China next year. (Written by/Xiao Yu)

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