Tech colossus Apple is steadily expanding overseas as it looks to expand its customer base in countries like India. Apple is opening its flagship stores in India and has started the process of hiring regional workers. In the previous fiscal year, the American corporation managed to double their iPhone exports from India by exporting more than $2.5 billion worth of iPhones from April to December, according to a report by Bloomberg.
As geopolitical tensions are on the rise, Apple is looking to steadily shift its operations from China to other regions after violence and chaos erupted at Foxconn’s Zhengzhou plant, exposing many supply-chain vulnerabilities and forcing major operational disruptions. This exacerbated additional problems as the demand for electronics has already slowed down against the backdrop of a looming recession. Additionally, China’s strict zero COVID policies have also led to supply-chain disruptions.
While India manufactures just a fraction of Apple’s iPhones, the projected exports bode well for India, as an alternative to China. Apple commenced its iPhone assembly operations in India just last year, a major shift from its practice of maintaining China as its base. The Modi government is looking to attract more foreign investment by announcing a battery of financial incentives. In a bid to boost the electronics manufacturing sector, the Indian government awarded 3.6 billion rupees ($44 million) in benefits to Foxconn, while Wistron is due to receive incentives.
The tech corporations – Wistron Corp. and Foxconn Technology Group – have each managed to ship more than $1 billion worth of Apple devices overseas in the initial nine months of the fiscal year closing in March 2023, according to the report in Bloomberg. According to private sources who wish to remain anonymous, Pegatron Corp., one of the chief manufacturers for Apple, is poised to export approximately $500 million worth of gadgets abroad by the end of January.