India set to beat China? See what Apple likely to do soon

Will India be the new hub of mass production for Apple products? Know what this report says.

Apple may consider India over China for the production of Apple products. This will likely lead to cut in prices of iPhones, iPads, and MacBooks. (REUTERS)

China is the production hub of Apple products. According to analysts, more than 90 percent of Apple products such as iPhones, iPads, and MacBook laptops are manufactured in China. But a recent report suggested that Apple may lose major dependency on the production of products in China. The Wall Street Journal report revealed that Apple told some of its contract manufacturers to boost the production of iPhones, iPads, Macbooks, and products outside China. And as India and Vietnam are already production sites of Apple products, the company may look closer to these countries as an alternative to China, people involved in the discussions told WSJ.

So, why is Apple considering choosing India over China for the production of Apple products? One of the main reasons behind this expected shift is the Covid-19 lockdowns imposed in Beijing and the other part of China's anti-Covid policy which have disrupted the supply chain to many other western countries. Besides that, Beijing's authoritarian Communist government and its clashes with the U.S. could be another reason for this reduction on the heavy dependency on China for Apple products, the report suggested. Resultantly, many companies, including iPhone maker Apple, are planning to reduce their dependence on China.

Though Apple declined to comment on this right now, but, back in April, Tim Cook, Apple's Chief Executive Officer commented while asked about Apple's supply chain, “Our supply chain is truly global, and so the products are made everywhere. We continue to look at optimizing.” Apple also cautioned in April that the comeback of Covid-19 cases may hinder sales by as much as $8 billion in the current quarter.

Apple is the largest US company by market capitalization, and hence any move to shift the mass production outside China may influence other Western companies to reduce their dependence on China for manufacturing key products. Still, the report hints that many people consider China as the hub for manufacturing because of its well-trained workforce, low-cost production than the US, and a wide network of parts suppliers.

Well, if the mass production of Apple products begins in India, then it may affect the prices of iPhones, iPad, and Macbooks in a better way. As the flagship iPhone 13 series attracts as much as 22.5 percent of customs duties in India, the manufacturing in India could begin selling at cheaper prices. Similarly, Apple iPads and MacBooks series attract huge import duties that may bring down the prices of popular apple products.