Apple’s partner Foxconn Technology Group announced its intention to increase the volume of investment funds allocated for the development of production activities in India.
Also, this company, based in Taiwan, plans to increase the level of employment in India. This desire, and the intention to increase investments, is a symptomatic sign of the process of gradual outflow of production from China that has already begun. This trend is observed against the background of a high level of tension between Beijing and Washington.
The United States, as part of the current situation, restricts China’s access to advanced chips and equipment necessary for their production. Beijing, in response to these actions by Washington, is narrowing the possibilities of American business activities on its territory. For example, recently it became known about China’s intention to limit the use of Apple smartphones. This decision is being actively discussed in the information space but has not been confirmed at the official level, although it has already caused a fall in the value of the shares of the American technology giant. In these circumstances, India can benefit by becoming an alternative manufacturing base in Asia. The Government of the country understands this and takes measures to encourage foreign companies to operate in this state.
V Lee, Foxconn’s representative in India, announced the company’s intention to double the size of its business in this South Asian country at the end of last week. He said this while congratulating Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his birthday. V Lee did not detail the company’s plan, limiting himself to stating its existence. He said Foxconn would work harder to give Narendra Modi the best birthday present next year. In this context, Wee Lee noted the desire to double employment, foreign direct investment, and the size of business in India.
As part of the intensification of activities in the South Asian country, Foxconn intends to build a plant on a 300-acre site located near the airport in Bangalore, the capital of Karnataka. According to media reports, the assembly of smartphones of the iPhone line will be established at this factory with a high degree of probability. There is also data according to which about 100 thousand jobs will be created at this plant.
Foxconn’s plan to develop activities in India is a very alarming signal for China, if such efforts are successfully implemented by the Taiwanese company and other firms, may gradually lose its status as the world’s largest manufacturer of household appliances. This negative future scenario for Beijing reflects the already-mentioned geopolitical tensions. Companies are interested in finding new locations for production bases, since activities on the territory of the country, in respect of which a strict sanctions regime may be imposed, means limited opportunities, entailing enormous losses.
Currently, many business representatives consider India and Vietnam as alternative areas of production activity to China. Experts say that these trends are a manifestation of a global rethinking of the supply chain. If the new concept is implemented in a practical way, the way electronics are manufactured around the world may change.
Foxconn already operates nine manufacturing campuses and more than 30 factories employing tens of thousands of people, in India. Every year in this country, the company receives revenue of about $10 billion.
