US technology giant Apple is shifting production of iPhones, iPads, Macs and other products outside, while it will soon start manufacturing its first 5G smartphones, iPhone 12 series, in India.
Apple will begin production of iPads in Vietnam by "as early as middle of this year", and will start producing the iPhone 12 series in India, within this quarter, Nikkei Asia reported quoting sources. As per the report, the production of other products such as earphones, computers, and smart speakers, will also be shifted outside China, as "part of its ongoing diversification strategy".
Wistron, Apple's Taiwanese manufacturer, has reportedly started the hiring processes for the local production of iPhone 12 components in India. The iPhones will be produced in Narasapura plant located in Kolar district, about 70 km from Bengaluru. Wistron has proposed to invest over Rs 2,900 crores in India to ramp up the efforts for the local production of iPhone. The Made in India iPhone 12 is expected to be rolled out by the middle of next year.
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This would be the first time when the US-based tech giant will build a significant number of the devices outside of China. The production diversification, which began in 2020, is likely to accelerate in 2021, despite hopes that US-China tensions will ease under newly elected President Joe Biden.
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India is the second-largest production base of Apple. During December quarter of 2020, Apple doubled its market share in India to 4 per cent by shipping more than 1.5 million iPhones to India, led by newly launched iPhone 12 and iPhone SE 2020. The company had remarkable last year in India as its annual sales volumes jumped to 3.2 million in 2020, registering a 60 per cent growth over 2019 sales.