Apple, which has been diversifying its iPhone production bases in recent years, is accelerating its?(탈) China strategy. In the last fiscal year, the scale of iPhones produced in India accounted for 1 out of 7 units, which is understood to have doubled compared to the previous year.
Bloomberg News reported on the 10th (local time), citing sources, that the proportion of iPhones produced in India during the 2023 fiscal year (October 2022 to September 2023) was 14%. This is about double the previous year, amounting to approximately $14 billion (about 19 trillion KRW).
The news agency evaluated, "As geopolitical risks such as the US-China conflict escalate, Apple is accelerating efforts to reduce its long-standing dependence on China." China had faced production difficulties due to the intensification of US-China tensions and China's lockdown policies after COVID-19, prompting a push for?(탈) China production. A representative example is that India, which had only produced older iPhone models, began producing the iPhone 14 released in September 2022.
According to sources, Apple's largest partner, Taiwan's Foxconn, assembled 67% of iPhones in India, and Pegatron assembled 17%. The remaining iPhones were made at Wistron’s factory located in the southern state of Karnataka. Tata Group, which acquired this factory last year, plans to build the largest iPhone assembly plant in India. Abhishek Gupta, an economist at Bloomberg Intelligence, diagnosed, "India is increasingly becoming a manufacturing base chosen by multinational companies seeking to diversify their business away from China."
Last year, Apple also opened offline stores for the first time in India's capital New Delhi and financial hub Mumbai. Additionally, it plans to open three more stores in India by 2027. Accordingly, the scale of iPhones produced in India is expected to continue increasing. However, the news agency also pointed out that Apple is not yet producing high-end Pro and Pro Max models in India.
Meanwhile, iPhone sales in the Chinese market have recently significantly declined. According to a Counterpoint Research report, iPhone sales in China decreased by 24% in the first six weeks of this year compared to the same period last year.
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