Amid Apple suppliers' increasing investments in India, Foxconn is reportedly to make AirPods in its planned facility in the southern state of Telangana, making it the first time for both Foxconn and India to manufacture the premium wireless earphones for Apple.
Two unnamed sources told Reuters that after an internal debate, Foxconn decided to make AirPods, as requested by Apple, in Foxconn Interconnect Technology's planned plant in Telangana, which is expected to start construction in the second half of 2023 and begin production by the end of 2024 at the earliest.
Reuters did not receive comments from Foxconn and Apple. The rumor also comes with an earlier report by Bloomberg saying that US-based Jabil had begun shipping plastic enclosures from India to China and Vietnam, where AirPods are assembled, potentially making AirPods the second Apple product to be made in India after iPhone.
Business Standard citing official data reported that Apple suppliers had created 100,000 new direct jobs since 2021, becoming the largest blue-collar job creator in India's electronics manufacturing industry.
Besides the Telangana facility, multiple reports stated that Foxconn plans to ramp up its investment in India, not only for mobile phone manufacturing but for EVs and semiconductors.
According to WSJ, Foxconn chairman Young Liu said during Foxconn's latest earnings call on March 15 that the world's largest contract manufacturer's sales from markets outside China would continue to grow as previous COVID-19 curbs disrupted Foxconn's iPhone plant in Zhengzhou in 2022. Furthermore, the escalating US-China geopolitical tension may further impact the global supply chain.
