Foxconn Reportedly Close to Deal to Open iPhone Manufacturing Facility in India

Apple manufacturer Foxconn is close to signing a deal with the Indian government to open a manufacturing facility intended to make iPhones, reports ET Now (via AppleInsider). The project would cost $10 billion and be built on top of 1,200 acres of land in Maharashtra, India.

Foxconn Office

While several other Indian states were in consideration for the plant, Foxconn chose Maharashtra, the third largest state in the country. The manufacturer hasn't yet picked a location for the facility in the state yet, but does have a couple options it's considering. Once the deal is done, ET Now reports it would take 18 months before the plant is operational.

Last year, Maharashtra Industries Minister Subhash Desai revealed that Foxconn was scouting locations in the state for a manufacturing facility. Foxconn is reportedly looking to build 10 to 12 facilities in the country by 2020. The Taiwanese manufacturer has been looking to re-enter the Indian market after being forced to shut down production in the country once it lost Nokia as a client in 2014.

India has increasingly become important to Apple's business, with the Cupertino company recently gaining approval to open its own retail stores in the country and announcing plans to open a $25 million facility focused on maps development in Hyderabad.

Tags: Foxconn, India

Top Rated Comments

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farewelwilliams

36 months ago

I really wish businesses like Apple stopped making their products using cheap labour and actually helped with making jobs in the US and other developed countries. Such greediness.

and yet, everyone is going to complain "WHY IS IPHONE 9 SO MUCH MORE EXPENSIVE?"

Rating: 13 Votes

garirry

36 months ago

I really wish businesses like Apple stopped making their products using cheap labour and actually helped with making jobs in the US and other developed countries. Such greediness.

Rating: 9 Votes

goobot

36 months ago

I really wish businesses like Apple stopped making their products using cheap labour and actually helped with making jobs in the US and other developed countries. Such greediness.

The US no longer has a workforce capable of such.

Rating: 7 Votes

garirry

36 months ago

and yet, everyone is going to complain "WHY IS IPHONE 9 SO MUCH MORE EXPENSIVE?"

Except the iPhone is already expensive for the sake of filling Apple with money. We already pay a premium, can't they do their part?

Rating: 6 Votes

Pakaku

36 months ago

I hope some of you guys don't mind paying $1200 for an iPhone...

Isn't that what an iPhone already costs? Maybe Apple should drop their Apple Tax just a little bit while bringing the work force locally. Last I heard there were still a lot of Americans looking for jobs.

Rating: 5 Votes

Laserducky

36 months ago

I absolutely will not buy anything made in India. You think China makes cheap stuff... By comparison, China is Germany and India is Cambodia.

Chinese goods are only as good as you design and spec them. India doesn't have the talent, or materials, to make quality products.

The Chinese can make excellent products! Some of which can rival, or are better than, things made in Japan, Germany or Switzerland. India has never done this and will never.

This isn't a racist post. This is a fact. Everything made in India is horribly made.

Costs in China are way up. iPhones could be made in the USA, for a profit, but their margins would not satisfy earnings calls. Plenty of things can be made here in the USA but greed trumps all. They want to make 5-600% profit, not 100%.

Quality of products in India depends completely on the level of QA and manufacturing rigour : the same as China.

An Apple product coming out of China is well made because of the stringent QA processes. Compare these to the cheap Made in China phone knock-offs that keep flooding the market in India and elsewhere : they are complete trash

If you are not happy buying your Made in India iPhone, feel free to switch brands as I doubt that Apple/Foxconn will consult us before deciding where they will manufacture.

Cheers !

Rating: 4 Votes

demodave

36 months ago

I really wish businesses like Apple stopped making their products using cheap labour and actually helped with making jobs in the US and other developed countries. Such greediness.

This overlooks the tacit/explicit requirement by the Indian government that products sold in India have to generate jobs in India. I'm sorry I don't have a link to hand, but this is MacRumors content from within the last several weeks.

Its a good move by Apple to at least make it look like Apple is honoring the Indian governments request, whether Apple like the requirement or not. And creating more breadth in the supply chain is also a pretty good decision.

Rating: 4 Votes

Gasu E.

36 months ago

I see both sides. Made in USA is great but the Labor Unions would totally screw Apple over. Too many modern day unions are like a cancer on society. Basically tantamount to extortion

Myth. Only a minority of USA manufacturing plants are unionized. Very unlikely Apple manufacturing employees would be unionized. Almost certain they would not be unionized at first.
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Neither "India" nor "China" will ever make iPhones. Foxconn (and its employees) does and will.

Want to know if something is racist? Look for the telltale "I'm not racist, but..."

Want to know if an opinion is sketchy? Look for the telltale expression insisting the option is "fact."

Rating: 4 Votes

808?

36 months ago

THEIR country.

Apple is worldwide, not restricted to the US.

Rating: 3 Votes

69Mustang

36 months ago

Except the iPhone is already expensive for the sake of filling Apple with money. We already pay a premium, can't they do their part?

I almost feel sorry for you. Take heart though, there are a lot of others who think Apple is a combination of benevolence, altruism, and their friend. They don't do what they do because they like you. Apple, like every other company out there, exists to make money. That's not an indictment of Apple. It's a public company with a fiduciary responsibility to make money for it's shareholders. If their products cost more to make, they're going to pass as much of that cost along to customers to maintain and grow as much profit margin as possible.

So far, that philosophy has worked well for them. Would it continue at a higher price? Don't know.

Rating: 3 Votes

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