Apple is accelerating its 'de-China' strategy by producing the new iPhone 15 in India this year, following the iPhone 14 production last year.
According to Bloomberg on the 16th (local time), Apple has started production of the iPhone 15, which will be released next month, in Tamil Nadu, a state in southeastern India.
The Taiwanese Foxconn factory, an Apple partner located in this region, is reportedly already preparing to ship the iPhone 15 from India. Other Apple partners in India, such as the Taiwanese Pegatron and Wistron factories, are also expected to assemble the iPhone 15 soon.
Previously, the shipment timing of iPhones from Indian factories was about 6 to 9 months later than that of Chinese factories. However, now the shipment timing gap has been reduced to just a few weeks.
Most notably, Apple’s move to produce new iPhone models in India is drawing attention. Apple began producing iPhones in India through Taiwanese partners in 2017, but mostly older or low-cost models. As the share of iPhones produced in India increased, it expanded to 7% of total production by the end of March.
Apple is reducing its production share in China due to factory shutdowns caused by COVID-19 and the impact of US-China tensions. To this end, Apple has requested its partners to increase production shares in other Asian countries such as India and Vietnam.
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