Report: Apple Supplier Foxconn Cuts Record Deal to Manufacture Electronics in India

Employees test mobile phones on an assembly line in the mobile phone plant of Rising Stars
Karen Dias/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Taiwan-based Apple supplier Foxconn Technology signed a record-breaking deal with India’s southern state of Telangana to manufacture electronics on Thursday.

The deal, whose exact terms were not immediately disclosed to the public, represents a major step in Foxconn’s plan to diversify production outside of China.

Foxconn operates the world’s largest facility for assembling Apple iPhones in Zhengzhou, China. The plant was caught in one of China’s manic coronavirus lockdowns in the fall of 2022, producing a series of embarrassing and costly spectacles that included workers clambering over fences so they could escape from the quarantined plant, swarms of angry protesters complaining about inhumane living conditions for the workers imprisoned within, and riots when Foxconn reportedly reneged on promised bonuses for the workers who agreed to stay.

Foxconn, like some other international corporations, decided to hedge its bets by moving some production lines out of China. In December, Apple reportedly asked Foxconn to shift some production of MacBook computers to Vietnam, beginning as early as May 2023.

“What Apple wants now is an ‘out of China’ option for at least part of production for all of its products,” a source familiar with Apple’s plans told Nikkei Asia.

According to technology hub Benzinga.com, Foxconn’s deal to manufacture electronics in India was sealed when Young Liu, chairman of Foxconn’s parent company Hon Hai Technology Group, met with Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi this week. The agreement is said to represent the largest foreign investment to date in India’s electronics sector, creating 100,000 jobs.

Foxconn said on Tuesday that Liu had a “warm meeting” with Modi, in which he updated the Indian prime minister on “our good progress in the country.”

Liu also met with Alkesh Kumar Sharma, secretary of India’s information technology ministry, and said Foxconn will help India reach its goal of a $300 billion electronics industry by 2026. The Indian government said it expected Foxconn to build at least two major plants in India this year, one of which would be the Telangana project announced on Thursday.

The Deccan Herald reported on Thursday that Liu signed a memorandum of understanding with Telangana officials to establish its electronics plant in the city of Hyderabad. Liu said he was “very impressed” with Telangana’s productivity and rapid growth.

“Foxconn’s unit will help in generating large-scale employment to youth and will help in attracting more such industries to the state,” said Chief Minister Rao. 

Thursday happened to be Young Liu’s birthday, so Rao presented him with a birthday card and hosted a lunch for him.

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