Is China pushing back on Apple’s India iPhone making plans?
China may be pushing back against Apple’s plans to expand iPhone production in India, though perhaps things are not quite what they seem. All the same, tongues are untied as Apple partner Foxconn has allegedly recalled over 300 Chinese engineers from its Indian iPhone factories in the last two months. As reported, this is a blow to Apple’s work in India, but this may not be the case.
The story is that Foxconn has recalled these people across the last two months at what might be a critical moment in iPhone 17 production. Apple will need engineers on the ground to help deploy manufacturing resources in India. “The bulk of Foxconn’s Chinese staff at iPhone plants in southern India have been told to fly back in a move that began about two months ago,” which leaves a big gap just as Apple attempts to ramp up production in both countries.
There is I suppose a slim possibility that the same engineers may be required in China to set up manufacturing processes there – as even with India, China remains the world’s biggest iPhone manufactures.
Tension headaches
We know there is tension. China’s government has decided to begin restricting technology transfers and equipment exports to India and Southeast Asia in its attempt to stop companies setting up production outside China.
That’s a direct consequence of the growing threat coming out of Washington, including the imposition of huge tariffs on Chinese goods.
Not to mention America’s support for wars, some of which China and most of the rest of the world do not agree with. In this political environment, it’s no surprise China wants to respond, and one way it can respond is to make it hard for manufacturers (such as Apple) to make their products anywhere else.
Historically, China has been a dominant player in the global manufacturing sector, and its government has often used its influence to control the flow of technology and resources.
While there will be many pointing the finger at this to say it shows how bad China is, from Chinese eyes it’s a perfectly logical thing to do – withdrawing the means of production undermines the very base of capitalism and also demonstrates the extent to which the so-called Western world has become dependent on Chinese manufacturing innovation.
But none of this is much help to Apple, which, it seems, must now face yet another year in which external factors complicate manufacturing and logistics just before an important iPhone launch. Such chaos and concern have been going on for so long now they appear to have become the new order for the world, with all the negative consequences that entails.
The report does go on to explain that there should be no impact on the quality of manufacturing but cites one source that says efficiency may suffer. It is also possible that iPhone 17 manufacturing in India may be impacted. Plus, of course, the lack of similar skills outside of China is in itself a good illustration of how come Apple makes iPhones there, rather than elsewhere.
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