Apple adds Pegatron as new iPhone 14 supplier in India in shift from China
- The Pegatron factory in India’s Tamil Nadu state, which employed more than 7,000 as of the end of September, also began making iPhone 12 handsets earlier this year
- One hurdle for more production shifting out of China is that most iPhone components are still built there and have to be shipped to wherever devices are assembled
Apple’s Taiwanese contract manufacturer Pegatron has begun assembling the company’s latest iPhone 14 model in India.
That move makes Pegatron the second Apple supplier to produce the iPhone 14 in the country, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg News, declining to be identified as the manufacturing plan is not public.
It comes at a time when Apple’s key iPhone Pro manufacturing hub in the Chinese city of Zhengzhou – operated by Foxconn Technology Group – was placed under an abrupt Covid-19 lockdown by authorities. That situation put a spotlight on Apple’s deep reliance on China, though the India expansion was in line with diversification plans already in place, the people said.
Apple declined to comment and Pegatron did not respond to a request for comment.
Foxconn began making the iPhone 14 in India in September, mere weeks after its global unveiling and much closer to parity with the start of production in China, where the vast majority of iPhones are still made. Apple’s chief production partner still has exclusivity on the iPhone Pro models, which it assembles in Zhengzhou.