Report Examines Challenges Apple Has Faced in Expanding Manufacturing in India

The Information has published a detailed look into the challenges that Apple has faced in expanding its manufacturing operations in India, including strict labor laws, unsatisfactory health and safety standards, and protectionist trade policies that have resulted in rising tariffs on smartphone components.

iphone assembled in india
An excerpt from the paywalled report:

For example, one Indian supplier Apple approached in 2018 was Superpacks, which operated a packaging factory in Bangalore. Apple sent auditors to assess whether its supplier responsibility practices were up to Apple's standards. The audits revealed dozens of violations. The site had no safety measures for storing chemicals, lacked monitoring for noise and wastewater, and didn't have several environmental and construction permits. It didn't properly test drinking water for workers and the site lacked a fire hydrant system, according to a person close to Apple.

Apple spent months pushing Superpacks to fix the violations. However, the Indian company stopped giving updates and missed deadlines for fixes. Apple ultimately didn't give it a business contract. Superpacks didn't respond to a request for comment.

Apple has reached agreements with some suppliers in India, such as Wistron, which assembles the iPhone 7 in the country. However, the majority of Apple's manufacturing remains in China, with recent issues such as the U.S.-China trade war and the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak emphasizing the need for diversification.

As the report notes, India recently relaxed rules on local sourcing of components, paving the way for Apple to open an online store in India later this year and its first retail store in the country by next year.

Full Article: Inside Apple's Search for an Indian Supply Chain by The Information

Tag: India

Popular Stories

Apple Watch Ultra Night Mode Screen

Apple Watch Ultra 3 Launching Later This Year With Two Key Upgrades

Wednesday July 2, 2025 1:13 pm PDT by
The long wait for an Apple Watch Ultra 3 appears to be nearly over, and it is rumored to feature both satellite connectivity and 5G support. Apple Watch Ultra's existing Night Mode In his latest Power On newsletter, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said that the Apple Watch Ultra 3 is on track to launch this year with "significant" new features, including satellite connectivity, which would let you...
iPhone 17 Pro in Hand Feature Lowgo

iPhone 17 Pro Max Battery Capacity Leaked

Thursday July 3, 2025 5:40 am PDT by
The iPhone 17 Pro Max will feature the biggest ever battery in an iPhone, according to the Weibo leaker known as "Instant Digital." In a new post, the leaker listed the battery capacities of the iPhone 11 Pro Max through to the iPhone 16 Pro Max, and added that the iPhone 17 Pro Max will feature a battery capacity of 5,000mAh: iPhone 11 Pro Max: 3,969mAh iPhone 12 Pro Max: 3,687mAh...
iPhone 17 Pro in Hand Feature Lowgo

iPhone 17 Pro Coming Soon With These 14 New Features

Friday July 4, 2025 1:05 pm PDT by
Apple's next-generation iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are just over two months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models. Latest Rumors These rumors surfaced in June and July:Apple logo repositioned: Apple's logo may have a lower position on the back of the iPhone 17 Pro models, compared to previous...
iPhone 17 Pro Lower Logo Magsafe

iPhone 17 Pro's New MagSafe Design Revealed in Leaked Photo

Wednesday July 2, 2025 8:37 am PDT by
The upcoming iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are rumored to have a slightly different MagSafe magnet layout compared to existing iPhone models, and a leaked photo has offered a closer look at the supposed new design. The leaker Majin Bu today shared a photo of alleged MagSafe magnet arrays for third-party iPhone 17 Pro cases. On existing iPhone models with MagSafe, the magnets form a...
airpods pro 2

AirPods Pro 3 to Help Maintain Apple's Place in Earbud Market Amid Increasing Low-Cost Competition

Thursday July 3, 2025 7:25 am PDT by
Apple's position as the dominant force in the global true wireless stereo (TWS) earbud market is expected to continue through 2025, according to Counterpoint Research. The forecast outlines a 3% year-over-year increase in global TWS unit shipments for 2025, signaling a transition from rapid growth to a more mature phase for the category. While Apple is set to remain the leading brand by...
Wi Fi WiFi General Feature

iOS 26 Adds a Useful New Wi-Fi Feature to Your iPhone

Wednesday July 2, 2025 6:36 am PDT by
iOS 26 and iPadOS 26 add a smaller yet useful Wi-Fi feature to iPhones and iPads. As spotted by Creative Strategies analyst Max Weinbach, sign-in details for captive Wi-Fi networks are now synced across iPhones and iPads running iOS 26 and iPadOS 26. For example, while Weinbach was staying at a Hilton hotel, his iPhone prompted him to fill in Wi-Fi details from his iPad that was already...
iOS 18

Apple Releases Second iOS 18.6 Public Beta

Tuesday July 1, 2025 10:19 am PDT by
Apple today seeded the second betas of upcoming iOS 18.6 and iPadOS 18.6 updates to public beta testers, with the betas coming just a day after Apple provided the betas to developers. Apple has also released a second beta of macOS Sequoia 15.6. Testers who have signed up for beta updates through Apple's beta site can download iOS 18.6 and iPadOS 18.6 from the Settings app on a compatible...

Top Rated Comments

BrentT Avatar
70 months ago
We want phones at a certain price point. We want workers to not be exploited. It seems these are mutually incompatible requests.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
julesme Avatar
70 months ago
Hmmm...I’m at a loss here, driving myself crazy trying to find a single country that tests its drinking water and knows how to deploy fire hydrants. Where on earth could such a place exist???!

This is a real head scratcher!

- Tim Apple
A real American Patriot

/s
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Will do good Avatar
70 months ago

Its always puzzled me why Apple has never setup its own iPhone assembly factory somewhere here in the States.

They certainly have the Coin to create a "seasonal" campus somewhere here !

Everyone knows Cook's Apple sucks at Innovation.

His specialty was supposed to be Manufacturing Operations Efficiency !

He appears to have failed BIG time here (as well), by putting ALL of Apple's Eggs into one Basket (China !) !
I don't know? could it be cost as well as where will you find couple of hundreds thousand people on a short notice? But you are right, you and most people on this board can fix any world problem, wish they would just ask.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
m4mario Avatar
70 months ago

Hmmm...I’m at a loss here, driving myself crazy trying to find a single country that tests its drinking water and knows how to deploy fire hydrants. Where on earth could such a place exist???!

This is a real head scratcher!

- Tim Apple
A real American Patriot

/s
LOL. If you want to manufacture in America, you would need to issue new H1B visas as there is no skilled, willing labor available to do such jobs.
I am still searching for the American who wants and trains their kids to work in an assembly plant. There are countries where it is the parent's dream that their child could work in an environment with American safety standards.
Americans who want manufacturing to happen in America are not willing to work in a manufacturing plant. That is the real head scratcher.

Do you think there are enough Americans who can do this?



Do schools here train for something like this? At least are there enough Americans who want to do this for a living and are willing to train for this?

Please understand that manufacturing is a super low income, super hard job. America can and does provide better opportunities. That is why no one here is willing to work in an assembly line. And that is a good thing. Don't let politicians fool you otherwise.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ScooterComputer Avatar
70 months ago

Hmmm...I’m at a loss here, driving myself crazy trying to find a single country that tests its drinking water and knows how to deploy fire hydrants. Where on earth could such a place exist???!

This is a real head scratcher!

- Tim Apple
A real American Patriot

/s
Well, @julesme, you see if Apple manufactured in the USA, they'd not be able to take advantage of all those very high tech accounting [S]schemes[/S] practices to [S]avoid[/S] pay the taxes they owe, because they'd not be able to export and import and export and import and export and import through a dozen other countries[S] helping out all those economies[/S]. ;)

For all the newcomers, Apple used to manufacture all their computers in the USA, in California (! believe it or not, in Fremont) and Colorado (Fountain). But yes, computers cost a LOT more back then. Then again, manufacturing was very different back then too, much more costly and labor intensive, not as automated. I am somewhat dubious of claims that Apple could not manufacture in the US today; I think that claim comes with a very big *, which is "at the very high profit margin they want". But when analysts like iSuppli/IHS put the labor cost for iPhones at around $2, you really have to wonder… the average hourly Chinese factory worker makes $3.60/hour (yes… really) so are we really saying Apple couldn't get Americans to buy iPhone for an extra $50 that used non-near-slave-labor?? They charge $100 to go from 32GB to 64GB, and that's like $4 of chip cost delta. I'd happily pay up for the 128GB model if I knew it was manufactured in the US. And I'm not anti-Chinese; I'm just pro-American laborer/economy. (Not to mention the logistics cost-benefit of shipping within a primary market vs putting inventory on a supertanker for an ocean voyage.)

The problem isn't really American capability, it is 100% due to business and accounting decisions and profiteering. Simple as that.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Mousse Avatar
70 months ago

Its always puzzled me why Apple has never setup its own iPhone assembly factory somewhere here in the States.

They certainly have the Coin to create a "seasonal" campus somewhere here !

Everyone knows Cook's Apple sucks at Innovation.

His specialty was supposed to be Manufacturing Operations Efficiency !

He appears to have failed BIG time here (as well), by putting ALL of Apple's Eggs into one Basket (China !) !
The reason is in the article. In the first sentence even...
The Information has published a detailed look into the challenges that Apple has faced in expanding its manufacturing operations in India, including strict labor laws, unsatisfactory health and safety standards, and protectionist trade policies that have resulted in rising tariffs on smartphone components.
Timmy can't exploit prison labor, so no iPhones manufacturing in the US. Forget about it. ('//www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5smk-U0WkA')
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)