Government monitoring production targets at Foxconn: Sources

FILE PHOTO: A women uses an iPhone mobile device as she passes a lighted Apple logo at the Apple store at Grand Central Terminal in New York City, U.S., April 14, 2023. REUTERS/Mike Segar/File Photo
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Mike Segar

The Centre is monitoring production targets at Foxconn and hopes that Apple has alternatives to handle issues related to the return of Chinese professionals from the electronics manufacturer’s plant in India, adding that this can be an opportunity for Indian professionals.

Recently, around 300 Chinese technology professionals who were facilitating and managing production at Foxconn plants in Southern India have returned to China triggering speculation that it may hamper production of the upcoming iPhone 17 series.

“Government is monitoring the situation. Apple has alternatives and they should be able to look at ways to handle this. Issue is primarily between Apple and Foxconn…I would look at it more as an opportunity. If the workers want to go back, it’s between the company and the workers,” said a senior government official on Friday.

According to industry experts, most of the equipment (mother machines) used for manufacturing of mobile phones are sourced from China and Chinese technology professionals have expertise in handling them. The engineers who have returned were handling assembly lines, factory design and also involved in training talents to handle tools and machines for iPhone production.

The official also said that said the government was monitoring the production targets at the Foxconn factory, which is one of the leading companies selected by the Centre under the production linked incentive (PLI) scheme too.

“Government facilitated visas for Chinese workers. Companies will have to make arrangements to ensure there is no disruption in the production,” the official added.

Apple vendors in India Foxconn and Tata Electronics have also seen easing of capital goods sourcing from China that are critical for the production of iPhones.

India-made iPhones are assembled in Foxconn’s factory in Tamil Nadu and Tata Electronics, which runs Pegatron Corp’s operations in India, is the other key manufacturer. The two companies are also building new plants and adding production capacity to increase iPhone production.

Apple assembled 60 per cent more iPhones, worth around $22 billion, in India in the year ended March 31, 2025.

Apple CEO Tim Cook also during the company’s result had announced that all iPhone sold in the US in the June quarter will be shipped from India.

According to a report by S&P Global, iPhone sales in the US were 75.9 million units in 2024, with exports in March from India at 3.1 million units, suggesting a need to double shipments either through new capacity or redirecting shipments bound for the domestic market.

“Apple’s Indian exports already headed predominantly to the US, which represented 81.9 per cent of phones exported by the firm in the three months to February 28, 2025. That increased to 97.6 per cent in March 2025 as a result of a 219 per cent jump in exports, likely reflecting the firm looking to preempt higher tariffs,” the S&P Global Market Intelligence report said.

Recently, Ashwini Vaishnaw, Minister of Electronics and IT has also said that iPhones worth ₹1.5-lakh crore were exported from India in fiscal year 2025 and Apple ecosystem in India is one of the biggest job creators in the country, estimated to have employed around two-lakh people across various vendors in the country.

Published on July 11, 2025