Foxconn halts new job rotations for Chinese employees at Indian iPhone factory, sending Taiwanese workers instead: report

Taiwanese company Foxconn will reportedly stop new job rotations of Chinese employees at Apple’s iPhone factory in India and instead dispatch Taiwanese workers. Rest of the worldwhich quoted five people familiar with Foxconn’s operations in India. The report also added that exports of professional manufacturing equipment to India have also been hampered in China.

After this update, it is expected that iPhone assembly lines at Foxconn factories in the southern states of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka may be disrupted. The report said the Chinese government was responsible for suspending worker dispatch and equipment exports.

“Currently, the equipment and manpower do not allow the passage (to India),” Rest of the world “India does not have the technology to produce these devices,” the source said.

Impact of suspension:

If the reports are true, and the pause continues, it could hamper Apple and Foxconn’s broader ambitions to develop next-generation iPhones in India.

Beyond that, the latest developments highlight the difficulties Apple faces in trying to move production out of China.

Previously, production of some of the most advanced iPhone models was moved to India as China’s zero-coronavirus policy disrupted operations at some factories.

In 2019, Foxconn started producing iPhones at a factory in Tamil Nadu and will start increasing its India factories and workforce in 2022. According to details, the two factories in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka employ tens of thousands of workers in total.

However, the report said Foxconn’s factories in India still rely on Chinese workers and a small number of Taiwanese foreign employees, as well as special machinery from China.

The Taiwanese company has deployed managers, engineers and technicians to oversee production and tool maintenance in India.

Visa issues:

Among other issues, the report said Foxconn’s Chinese employees were scheduled to travel to India but were asked to cancel the trip. Sources say some people were granted visas and tickets but stopped traveling. Chinese employees currently working in India are rarely told to return home by an unspecified date. Although the instruction was conveyed verbally to the employee, Rest of the world A Foxconn employee was quoted as saying.

according to a Bloomberg The report said that in fiscal 2024, Apple assembled $14 billion worth of iPhones in India through factories operated by Foxconn, Pegatron and India’s Tata Group.

Meanwhile, one expert believes China may take steps to prevent India from challenging its status as a global manufacturing powerhouse.

“Underlying tensions will continue to ensure that this economic competition between the two countries will only escalate,” Rest of the world Harsh V. Pant, professor and vice president of research and foreign policy at the Observer Research Foundation, New Delhi, was quoted as saying.

“Whether or not the Chinese government is directly involved (in the suspension), many Indians will view this event in a very negative light,” Pant added.