AirPods to Be Made in India for the First Time Next Year - MacRumors
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AirPods to Be Made in India for the First Time Next Year

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Apple will begin making AirPods in India for the first time early next year, reports Bloomberg. Foxconn will make the wireless earphones at a factory near Hyderabad in Telangana state, beginning around Q1 2025.

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The factory has reportedly been making AirPods on a trial basis, with manufacturing set to ramp up quickly after production begins. It will make AirPods only the second major Apple product to be assembled in India after the iPhone.

The decision to set up production in India was requested by Apple back in 2023, according to a previous report. Foxconn officials apparently debated internally for months about whether to assemble AirPods due to the relatively low profit margins, but ultimately decided to go ahead with it to "reinforce engagement" with Apple.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government offers financial incentives to companies that produce wireless earphones and smartwatches locally, which influenced Apple's decision to move manufacturing there. The move is also part of Apple's plan to reduce its production reliance on China amid rising geopolitical tensions between the country and the United States.

Last year, Apple supplier Jabil began making AirPods enclosures in India for shipping to China and Vietnam, where the earphones are currently assembled. According to Bloomberg's sources, exports of Apple iPhones from India jumped by a third in the six months through September, reaching nearly $6 billion. Most of the AirPods to be assembled in India next year will likely also be shipped to other markets.

Tag: India

Top Rated Comments

kaycrystal626 Avatar
kaycrystal626
18 months ago
Apple products are made around the globe except in the USA!
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
PinkLadyApples Avatar
PinkLadyApples
18 months ago
I would prefer it all to be made in the USA. I'm pretty sure in the 1990s Apple Products were.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
C
ChrisA
18 months ago

Apple products are made around the globe except in the USA!
Tim Cook once said that building iPhones in the US would be impossible because he would never be able to hire 200,000 factory workers.

Let's say Tim moved phone production to the US. Would you quit your current job to work in one of the new factories? I didn't think so.

China has four times the population of the US and India is even larger. The only way you can build a phone in the US is to fully automate the factory so it runs with very few employees.

Actually the Mac Pro is made in Texas. But bringing the Mac Pro assembly to the US, only created about 80 factory jobs and about as many office jobs. The factory is automated.

Americans say they want to buy made-in-USA products but when it comes time to actually buy something, we find they care more about price than where it is made. But you want low-priced American goods? That is only going to happen if either (1) American factory workers are paid maybe $6 per hour or (2) the factories are staffed by robots.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Jay Tee Avatar
Jay Tee
18 months ago
Shifting AirPods production to India isn’t just about diversification—it’s about keeping margins stable in a turbulent world. If they can turn this move into long-term savings, their corporate bonds might be the safer way to ride their innovation train without the stock market’s ups and downs.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
fenderbass146 Avatar
fenderbass146
18 months ago
Excellent, I'd love to bring them back to the west, but getting out of China is good news.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
switz Avatar
switz
18 months ago
The 2013 Trash Can Mac Pro was assembled in Texas as I believe have the on going Mac Pros. Most all of the other Apple products are made off shore. Apple could not become a multi trillion dollar company by paying USA labor rates. But they expect folks around the world to pay really high prices for the Apple product.

GE moved their side by side refrigerator three production lines from Bloomington, Indiana (where I lived at the time) where it was the largest employer to Mexico. The wages paid in Bloomington would allow the workers to be able to buy one of those refrigerators. None of the Mexicans now doing the assembly could even dream of acquiring these products.

The tremendous labor cost savings were not reflected in the USA prices, in fact the prices have continued to climb.

Innovation costs real money. We pay dearly for that. I would not expect Apple to create language compatibility with every version of speech on the planet.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
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