Apple’s manufacturing shift to India hits stumbling blocks

[beijingwalker]

Apple’s manufacturing shift to India hits stumbling blocks​

Patrick McGee in San Francisco and John Reed in New Delhi

FEBRUARY 14 2023

Apple is hitting stumbling blocks in its effort to increase production in India, as the US tech giant faces pressure to cut its manufacturing reliance on China. The iPhone maker has been sending product designers and engineers from California and China to factories in southern India, to train locals and help establish production, according to four people familiar with the operations.

It comes as Apple attempts to unwind its dependence on a China-centred supply chain strategy, following months of Covid-19 disruption that led to it reporting its first decline in quarterly revenues in three and a half years earlier this month.

Apple is building up nascent operations in India in an overdue diversification strategy, following the blueprint it set in China two decades ago, with engineers and designers often spending weeks or months at a time in factories to oversee manufacturing.

While Apple has been producing lower-end iPhones in India since 2017, last September was significant with Indian suppliers building flagship models within weeks of their launch in China, where virtually all iPhones and other Apple hardware are made.

But its experience in recent months has demonstrated the scale of the work to be done in the country.

At a casings factory in Hosur run by Indian conglomerate Tata, one of Apple’s suppliers, just about one out of every two components coming off the production line is in good enough shape to eventually be sent to Foxconn, Apple’s assembly partner for building iPhones, according to a person familiar with the matter.

This 50 per cent “yield” fares badly compared with Apple’s goal for zero defects. Two people that have worked in Apple’s offshore operations said the factory is on a plan towards improving proficiency but the road ahead is long.

Jue Wang, consultant at Bain, said Apple is at the start of its expansion into India. “We’re not talking the same scale of the Zhengzhou factory” — a factory hub in China known as “iPhone City” that employs some 300,000 workers — “and everybody acknowledges there will be different efficiency, but it is happening”, she said.

Apple’s manufacturing shift to India hits stumbling blocks

The iPhone maker is under pressure to unwind its China-orientated supply chain strategy following Covid disruption

www.ft.com

 

[kankan326]

Except population scale, India has nothing in common with China.

 

[Sam6536]

Apple’s manufacturing shift to India hits stumbling blocks​

Patrick McGee in San Francisco and John Reed in New Delhi

FEBRUARY 14 2023

Apple is hitting stumbling blocks in its effort to increase production in India, as the US tech giant faces pressure to cut its manufacturing reliance on China. The iPhone maker has been sending product designers and engineers from California and China to factories in southern India, to train locals and help establish production, according to four people familiar with the operations.

It comes as Apple attempts to unwind its dependence on a China-centred supply chain strategy, following months of Covid-19 disruption that led to it reporting its first decline in quarterly revenues in three and a half years earlier this month.

Apple is building up nascent operations in India in an overdue diversification strategy, following the blueprint it set in China two decades ago, with engineers and designers often spending weeks or months at a time in factories to oversee manufacturing.

While Apple has been producing lower-end iPhones in India since 2017, last September was significant with Indian suppliers building flagship models within weeks of their launch in China, where virtually all iPhones and other Apple hardware are made.

But its experience in recent months has demonstrated the scale of the work to be done in the country.

At a casings factory in Hosur run by Indian conglomerate Tata, one of Apple’s suppliers, just about one out of every two components coming off the production line is in good enough shape to eventually be sent to Foxconn, Apple’s assembly partner for building iPhones, according to a person familiar with the matter.

This 50 per cent “yield” fares badly compared with Apple’s goal for zero defects. Two people that have worked in Apple’s offshore operations said the factory is on a plan towards improving proficiency but the road ahead is long.

Jue Wang, consultant at Bain, said Apple is at the start of its expansion into India. “We’re not talking the same scale of the Zhengzhou factory” — a factory hub in China known as “iPhone City” that employs some 300,000 workers — “and everybody acknowledges there will be different efficiency, but it is happening”, she said.

Apple’s manufacturing shift to India hits stumbling blocks

The iPhone maker is under pressure to unwind its China-orientated supply chain strategy following Covid disruption

www.ft.com

As expected
Efficiency will improve with time.

 

[beijingwalker]

As expected
Efficiency will improve with time.

In case of India, very often it means a long long, the time could outlive Apple.

 

[Suriya]

Except population scale, India has nothing in common with China.

You got 10-15 years max, by 2040 when India will over takes China.

 

[beijingwalker]

by 2040 when India will over takes China.

LOl, good luck.

 

[Sam6536]

In case of India, very often it means a long long, the time could outlive Apple.

It will take time yes but Apple is not moving all of their production to India, it's a part of their overall industrial base. They'll decide on further investments after the output assessment in the next few years.
Once the production catches steam it'll be profitable for both Apple and Indians employed by Apple.
I don't have any beef with China it's just standard geopolitics at play here. China too started somewhere this is where India is starting. Zero to One takes a while before smooth sailing.

India is a very multi-cultural state with a lot of roadblocks. That means a lot of slowdowns but in the next few decades globalization will mean more Indian integration with global trade. Right now most of our production is domestic.

 

[Suriya]

LOl, good luck.

India doesn't need that.
India was a bigger economy than China for more than 1000years in last 2000yrs,
it is just natural history will repeat itself.

 

[beijingwalker]

India doesn't need that.
India was a bigger economy that China for more than 1000years in last 2000yrs,
it is just natural history will repeat itself.

The Economic History of the Last 2000 Years​

https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2012/06/the-economic-history-of-the-last-2000-years-part-iii/258877/

 

[Suriya]

The Economic History of the Last 2000 Years​

https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2012/06/the-economic-history-of-the-last-2000-years-part-iii/258877/

Thanks, the chart only proves what I said.

 

[beijingwalker]

Thanks, the chart only proves what I said.

Seems like you don't know how to read bar charts.

by 2040 when India will over takes China.

So how much Indian economy needs to growth each year to reach that goal in 2040? did you do the math?

Where will the global GDP growth come from in 2023?
Almost 90% from developing nations! Only 10% from advanced economies. China leads the chart with 40%, with India coming in second at 10%. The US and EU combined will contribute only 10% to the growth of world's economy.

 

[Suriya]

Seems like you don't know how to read bar charts.

You know how to read Bar chart, then tell us who is the bigger economy between India and China from 1AD to 1000AD, even upto 1500AD?

 

[datafreak]

We'll iron things out soon enough

 

[SaadH]

India doesn't need that.
India was a bigger economy than China for more than 1000years in last 2000yrs,
it is just natural history will repeat itself.

Bull$hit, India's economy was bigger than China's only during Aurangzeb's time, who ironically is the most dreaded and hated person in India currently.

 

[Suriya]

Bull$hit, India's economy was bigger than China's only during Aurangzeb's time, who ironically is the most dreaded and hated person in India currently.

Guess what change your school or teacher whoever told u that.

https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2012/06/the-economic-history-of-the-last-2000-years-part-iii/258877/