Apple Preparing to Make More AirPods in India
Foxconn's facility in Hyderabad, India is preparing to double monthly AirPods output and more than double its workforce as Apple accelerates accessory manufacturing in the country, the Economic Times reports.
Foxconn will apparently raise capacity at its Kongara Kalan plant from more than 100,000 units per month to 200,000 units per month by overhauling five existing assembly lines and installing additional equipment that is being transferred from facilities in Vietnam. The site began production of AirPods in April after machinery and tooling were relocated.
The workforce of around 2,000 employees is also likely to rise to 5,000 in the next six to eight months. The current assembly mix at the plant includes the AirPods 4 and AirPods Pro 3.
The step-up in Hyderabad follows a temporary constraint in July, when AirPods production was hampered by a shortage of dysprosium after China tightened export controls on rare earth metals. The expansion of AirPods production in India is part of a broader strategic production shift in Apple's supply chain as it diversifies its manufacturing across different countries.
Popular Stories
Apple supplier Foxconn has confirmed a cyberattack on several of its U.S. factories, after a ransomware group claimed to have stolen confidential Apple project files as part of the hack.
The Nitrogen group posted the breach on its data leak site this week, claiming to have made off with 8TB of data spanning more than 11 million files. Alongside the allegedly stolen Apple files, Nitrogen...
India will not require smartphone makers like Apple and Samsung to preload devices with a state-owned biometric identification app, reports Reuters.
The Unique Identification Authority of India asked the IT ministry to start talks with Apple and other tech companies about the possibility of mandatory preinstallation of the Aadhaar identity app, but the IT ministry told Reuters today that it...
Apple is facing a fast-track decision on regulatory penalties in India because it has not submitted data sought by the country's antitrust body as part of an investigation into its market practices.
The Competition Commission of India (CCI) published a report in 2024 that Apple exploited its dominant position in the apps market by forcing developers to use its proprietary in-app purchase...
