Pegatron, one of the major suppliers of Apple Inc, is likely to assemble iPhone 14, the company’s flagship smartphone, at its brand-new state-of-the-art production facility on the outskirts of Chennai, the second firm to do so in India after Foxconn.
The development, confirmed to DH by highly-placed sources in the Union Government, comes amid Apple’s struggle in rolling out iPhones from Foxconn’s massive manufacturing unit in China’s Zhengzhou, which is under a sudden lockdown due to increase in the number of Covid-19 cases.
The decision by Apple, the Cupertino-based electronics major, also comes amid reports that it was planning to shift a major portion of its China operations to India.
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With this, India has now emerged as one of the major suppliers of iPhone with Pegatron and Foxconn, both in Chennai, assembling the smartphones and shipping them to the export market. Foxconn, which recently operationalised its second unit meant for manufacturing Apple products, began assembling iPhone 14 in September 2022. “The Pegatron plant in Chennai will assemble iPhone 14,” a top source told DH on the condition of anonymity. Apple and Pegatron did not comment on the development.
Pegatron, which signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Tamil Nadu government in 2021, has invested Rs 1,100 crore in the brand new factory which was operationalised on September 30, 2022. iPhone 14 being assembled by two contract manufacturers of Apple in India is also a major boost to the ‘Make in India’ programmee of the Narendra Modi government.
Pegatron, the third contract manufacturer of Apple Inc to set up shop in India after Wistron and Foxconn, is currently assembling iPhone 12 at the new facility.
Sources also said Pegatron is inclined towards expanding its capacity in India to assemble more iPhone units.
Besides iPhone 14, the manufacturing units of Foxconn, Pegatron and Wistron now assemble almost all advanced models of iPhones in India, including iPhone SE, iPhone 12 and iPhone 13. Apple began manufacturing iPhones in India in 2017 with iPhone SE at its Wistron’s facility near Bengaluru.
Two out of three Apple’s suppliers are located in Tamil Nadu, which currently accounts for 20% of national production of electronics and hardware, aims to increase the share to 25% and enhance the industry’s output to $100 billion by 2025.
The state, which is already home to top 16 electronics manufacturers, wants the electronics industry to be at par with automobiles that accounts to 37.6% of the country’s automobile and auto component exports, apparel (30.8%) and footwear (46.4%).
The state has two exclusive special economic zones (SEZs) for electronics and hardware manufacturing in Sriperumbudur, 50 km from here, and in Oragadam, 70 km from here, spread over 800 acres.