Apple Supplier Foxconn to Set Up $500 Million Manufacturing Plant in Telangana; Will Create 25,000 Jobs

Apple supplier Foxconn will invest $500 million to set up manufacturing plants in the southern Indian state of Telangana, the state's IT minister said on Monday.

The investment will create 25,000 jobs in the first phase, K.T. Rama Rao said in a tweet.

Reuters in March reported that Foxconn had won an order to make AirPods for Apple and planned to build a factory in India to manufacture the products.

The deal will see Foxconn, the world's largest contract electronics maker and assembler of around 70 percent of all iPhone models, become an AirPods supplier for the first time and underlines efforts by the key Apple supplier to further diversify production away from China. AirPods are currently made by a range of Chinese suppliers.

Apple has been shifting production away from China, where prior COVID restrictions disrupted the manufacturing of new iPhone models and other devices. The tech company is also looking to avoid a hit to its business due to tensions between Beijing and Washington.

Foxconn in late March received approval from the Karnataka government for a $968 million (roughly Rs. 7,964 crore) investment in the state.

The company said in March it planned to ramp up investment outside of China and efforts to attract automakers to its contract manufacturing business, after reporting weaker demand for consumer electronics.

Earlier this month, Foxconn said its revenue in April fell 11.77 percent year-on-year due to weakness in smart consumer electronics, and expected business to drop this quarter. The Apple supplier said revenue last month reached T$429.2 billion (roughly Rs. 1,31,200 crore), in line with the company's own expectations.

© Thomson Reuters 2023