Apple has started producing the iPhone XR in India, while its supplier Salcomp, the leader in smartphone and tablet chargers, will take over the defunct Nokia plant near Chennai next year, boosting the government’s efforts to make the country an electronics manufacturing hub, IT and telecom minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said.
The iPhone XR is being made at the Chennai facility of Foxconn, the world’s largest contract manufacturer. With Salcomp’s entry, the Nokia telecom special economic zone near Chennai is expected to see complete revival, with most shuttered units, including one belonging to Foxconn, likely to resume production by March. The government has asked Cupertino, California-based Apple to expand operations in India, with Prasad declaring that India will have the most favourable regime to become a big centre for mobile manufacturing. “I expect further expansion of manufacturing in India by #Apple,” Prasad said in a Twitter post on Monday.
Apple aims to make India a key global production hub even though it has a dismal 2% share of the country’s smartphone market. This will include assembly of flagship iPhones in sync with their worldwide release schedules. It will also help as a de-risking strategy with companies looking for production facilities beyond China, currently engaged in a trade spat with the US. Apple has also been expanding its base of suppliers in India. It recently began sourcing battery packs from Flex Ltd. Others including Salcomp, Sunwoda Electronic Co., CCL Design (Suzhou) and Shenzhen Yuto Packaging Technology Co. are manufacturing parts and accessories in India.
Salcomp, Apple’s leading supplier for chargers globally, is set to revive the defunct Nokia factory in March 2020 and will invest Rs 2,000 crore in the facility over the next five years. Salcomp India managing director Sasikumar Gendham said most companies are adopting a “China plus one” strategy, looking out for a base beyond China to support manufacturing. Salcomp India has raised capacity across its three factories in the country to 150 million chargers a year, investing Rs 200 crore in the past two years.`
