According to a Monday report by Indian newspaper The Economic Times, Apple’s contract manufacturer Foxconn is planning to open a plant to make iPhones in India. This may reflect Apple’s strategic layout in India.
The ET report said Foxconn and Apple have decided to open the manufacturing plant in Maharashtra. Foxconn is planning to purchase 1,200 acres of land there and is now in talks with the Indian government about the contract. It will be 18 months before the USD 10 billion plant goes into operation.
Foxconn is an electronics manufacturing company headquartered in Taiwan that was founded in 1974. The company has over 30 manufacturing plants in mainland China and over 1.2 million staff. It ranked 31st among the Fortune Global 500 in 2015.
Foxconn used to make mobile phones for Nokia in India. But the company had to close its plant in India due to a sharp decline in orders in 2014.
Foxconn purchased Japanese electronics manufacturer Sharp with USD 5.8 billion in February 2016. This was Japan’s largest tech acquisition by an overseas company.
Also, Apple sees a lot of potential for its iPhones in the Indian market. In the telephone conference for Apple’s Q1 2016 financial report, Apple CEO Tim Cook said the Indian smartphone market is like that of China seven to ten years ago. He also said that Apple achieved a 56% YoY increase in smartphone sales in India in Q1 2016.
(Top photo from techpp.com)
