iPhone Assembler Pegatron Reportedly Readies $150m Investment in India

Apple assembly partner Pegatron's board of directors is said to have approved a proposal to spend $150 million to build a manufacturing plant in India.

pegatron logo
The new facility is expected to begin production in the second half of next year or in early 2022, with more investments planned in the country over the next two years, reported India's Economic Times, citing unnamed executives.

Pegatron, Apple's second-largest iPhone assembler after Foxconn, registered its India subsidiary in July, and said that the global health crisis had made it hard for staff to visit India, which had resulted in delays. The facility would be the company's first to be established in the country, and would likely be involved in future ‌iPhone‌ assembly.

Pegatron has been cleared to take part in India's billion-dollar Production-Linked Incentive Scheme, which provides incentives on locally-produced smartphones. The Taipei-based assembler joins rival ‌iPhone‌ manufacturers Foxconn and Wistron, which are already signed up to the scheme.

Pegatron recently drew the ire of Apple after it was discovered that the ‌iPhone‌ supplier had been committing labor violations at a student workers' program at its Shanghai and Kunshan campuses in eastern China.

Apple put Pegatron on probation as a result of the violations, and while the supplier's current ‌‌iPhone‌‌ business is not expected to be affected, it could lose some ‌iPhone‌ 12 orders to rival Luxshare next year.

Popular Stories

apple watch ultra yellow

What's Next for the Apple Watch Ultra 3 and Apple Watch SE 3

Friday April 25, 2025 2:44 pm PDT by
This week marks the 10th anniversary of the Apple Watch, which launched on April 24, 2015. Yesterday, we recapped features rumored for the Apple Watch Series 11, but since 2015, the Apple Watch has also branched out into the Apple Watch Ultra and the Apple Watch SE, so we thought we'd take a look at what's next for those product lines, too. 2025 Apple Watch Ultra 3 Apple didn't update the...
iphone 16 display

iPhone 17's Scratch Resistant Anti-Reflective Display Coating Canceled

Monday April 28, 2025 12:48 pm PDT by
Apple may have canceled the super scratch resistant anti-reflective display coating that it planned to use for the iPhone 17 Pro models, according to a source with reliable information that spoke to MacRumors. Last spring, Weibo leaker Instant Digital suggested Apple was working on a new anti-reflective display layer that was more scratch resistant than the Ceramic Shield. We haven't heard...
iPhone 17 Air Pastel Feature

iPhone 17 Reaches Key Milestone Ahead of Mass Production

Monday April 28, 2025 8:44 am PDT by
Apple has completed Engineering Validation Testing (EVT) for at least one iPhone 17 model, according to a paywalled preview of an upcoming DigiTimes report. iPhone 17 Air mockup based on rumored design The EVT stage involves Apple testing iPhone 17 prototypes to ensure the hardware works as expected. There are still DVT (Design Validation Test) and PVT (Production Validation Test) stages to...
Beyond iPhone 13 Better Blue

20th Anniversary iPhone Likely to Be Made in China Due to 'Extraordinarily Complex' Design

Monday April 28, 2025 4:29 am PDT by
Apple will likely manufacture its 20th anniversary iPhone models in China, despite broader efforts to shift production to India, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. In 2027, Apple is planning a "major shake-up" for the iPhone lineup to mark two decades since the original model launched. Gurman's previous reporting indicates the company will introduce a foldable iPhone alongside a "bold"...
iPhone 17 Air Pastel Feature

iPhone 17 Air Launching Later This Year With These 16 New Features

Thursday April 24, 2025 8:24 am PDT by
While the so-called "iPhone 17 Air" is not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the ultra-thin device. Overall, the iPhone 17 Air sounds like a mixed bag. While the device is expected to have an impressively thin and light design, rumors indicate it will have some compromises compared to iPhone 17 Pro models, including only a single rear camera, a...
iPhone 17 Pro Blue Feature Tighter Crop

iPhone 17 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 13 New Features

Wednesday April 23, 2025 8:31 am PDT by
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of April 2025: Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone ...

Top Rated Comments

Bokito Avatar
58 months ago

Thanks for NOTHING apple. Abandon your bread and butter customer of USA who are out of jobs and need the investment of manufacturing.
That won’t work. Manufacturing in wealthy countries isn’t competitive for quite a few reasons:

* People are more expansive (more expansive products)
* Scaling up is very hard
* There just aren’t enough people that want to work on such jobs*


* In Western Europe we import people from Eastern Europe for quite a few job categories because people in Western Europe are too lazy for them:

* Warehouse sorting
* Horticulture
* Meat industry
* Manufacturing

And many more. I think the US has the same problem finding people for those jobs.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
DelayedGratificationGene Avatar
58 months ago
Such potential. 1.4b people. Smart developing country eventually to be another China for Apple. Great job. Keep moving ahead in India Tim!
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
apparatchik Avatar
58 months ago

That won’t work. Manufacturing in wealthy countries isn’t competitive for quite a few reasons:

* People are more expansive (more expansive products)
* Scaling up is very hard
* There just aren’t enough people that want to work on such jobs*


* In Western Europe we import people from Eastern Europe for quite a few job categories because people in Western Europe are too lazy for them:

* Warehouse sorting
* Horticulture
* Meat industry
* Manufacturing

And many more. I think the US has the same problem finding people for those jobs.
In the US the agricultural and construction sectors are filled with inmigrants, just to name a few. The manufacturing capacity, flexibility, input and chains are not there... its not just a matter of costs but actual feasibility.

Now, in the whole production chain, when you take into account the hardware design, such as Apple Silicon (not the manufacturing but the design), the software, the packaging design, in other words, the high paying jobs related to Apple devices, most of those are located in the US.

They outsource the cheap labor you wouldnt really want unless you’re a developing nation like India or Mexico.

Were I a US citizen I would be happy having all the high skilled jobs, time to retrain the workforce for those unemployed so they can move up in the production chain instead of expecting to be tightening screws for a living any more.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
monster620ie Avatar
58 months ago
Thanks for NOTHING apple. Abandon your bread and butter customer of USA who are out of jobs and need the investment of manufacturing.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
anthogag Avatar
58 months ago
India has an influential rising-star tech sector. They could easily make iPhones. India is a democracy. China's communist government will always undermine Western democracy.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Shanpdx Avatar
58 months ago
iPhone SE and iPhone 11 was smash hit during the Diwali holidays in India.

Apple can lower the price if they are able to manufacture in India (avoiding 20% or so import duty).

I think more and more low and middle end products will be manufactured in India.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)