Crucial supply chains strained by Covid lockdowns and threatened by rising geopolitical tension have forced Apple to move more iPhone production out of China and India has emerged as an attractive potential alternative. A new report states that India will have a significant role in producing the upcoming iPhone 15, with the Cupertino company even planning to ship some of the standard models from the country for the first time.
Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reports that Apple plans to ship iPhone 15 models from India upon the device’s launch, which is a first for the launch of a new iPhone lineup. This hints that the company is slowly progressing in diversifying its supply chain away from China. It has been reported that the casings for the vanilla iPhone 15 are already being manufactured in India by local suppliers such as Jabil. The mentioned supplier also assembles AirPods enclosures.
Apple is said to be ramping up its efforts to move more iPhone production out of China, with India and Vietnam being the two favorable options for manufacturing and product assembly. The Cupertino company is expected to triple its production of iPhones over the next two years in India. Currently, Apple has its top three manufacturing partners—Wistron, Foxconn, and Pegatron—making smartphones in India.
However, it is expected that only the regular iPhone 15 models will be manufactured and shipped from India. The iPhone 15 Plus, iPhone 15 Pro, and iPhone 15 Pro Max will still be made in Mainland China. This is apparently because Apple is experiencing quality control issues with some Indian suppliers.
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