Massive Move! India wins big in Apple race against China on iPhone 14, more

Last month, Apple made a major announcement when it revealed that it will be beginning some of its iPhone 14 manufacturing in India. This move will facilitate the iPhone makers’ diversification of the supply chain outside of China. It is believed that this strategy was leveraged in the light of rising geopolitical tension between the US and China. India will be one of the prime beneficiaries of this move alongside Thailand which is expected to get some of the assembly line for MacBooks.

As a direct effect of this move, The Foxconn unit in Chennai has begun assembling iPhone 14 series smartphones as of last month. The smartphones are for the domestic Indian market only and will not be used for exporting purposes, as per reports. Additionally, just last week Apple also told its suppliers to move AirPods and Beats headphone production to India as well. This would mark the first time these two gadgets will be produced in the country. Apple analyst and leaker Ming-Chi Kuo has now revealed details around the move.

Ming-Chi Kuo reveals information on Apple supply chain

In a long series of tweets posted on his official Twitter account, Kuo revealed the details around Apple’s plan to move production outside of China. He said, “Apple's global supply chain management strategy continues to change in response to the de-globalization trend, mainly to reduce the assembly business in China. Here are the latest major survey updates”.

Kuo highlighted that Tata Group might get to manufacture and assemble iPhone units in future. “According to Apple's plan, the Indian company Tata Group may cooperate with Pegatron or Wistron in the future to develop the iPhone assembly business. More than 80% of the iPhones made in India (by Foxconn) are currently to meet domestic demand,” Kuo added.

“The potential cooperation of Tata Group and Pegatron or Wistron can accelerate the increase in the proportion of non-China iPhone production,”Kuo revealed.

Kuo also mentioned, “The main non-China production site for MacBook in the future may be Thailand. All MacBooks are currently assembled from production sites located in China”.

“In the medium term (within 3-5 years), at least the US market (~25-30%+ of global shipments) can be supplied by assembly sites located in non-China to reduce potential impacts from political risks (e.g., US-China tariffs)," Kuo said.

Apart from India, Thailand will also benefit from the move, explained Kuo. The future production site for MacBook might go to Thailand. At the moment, only China manufactures MacBook devices.

Kuo also highlighted the long-term strategy behind de-centralization of the supply chain by Apple. He said, “The non-Chinese markets will be supplied by assembly sites located in non-China, while the Chinese market will be supplied by assembly sites located in China”.