Editorial: China’s loss, India’s gain

Apple opens two stores in India, a sign of New Delhi’s growing manufacturing prowess

Apple opened two stores in India – the tech giant’s biggest retail move yet – and expanded domestic production of iPhones, in another sign that China’s withdrawal would benefit India. New Delhi’s growing manufacturing prowess and the growing purchasing power of Indian consumers are helping to tip the scales. The back-to-back openings of retail stores in Mumbai and New Delhi underscore how bullish the world’s most valuable company is on the Indian market. After years of offering products through a large network of resellers, the company’s retail push in India has been fueled not only by a strong financial position but also by a shifting geopolitical situation that has forced Apple to build a meaningful presence outside of China. global alliance. In this regard, India offers a huge opportunity. Over the past few years, Apple has ramped up iPhone production in India. The Cupertino-based tech major now manufactures nearly 7% of its total iPhone production in India, up from just 1% in 2021. There is no doubt that India has become the fastest growing smartphone market in the world. Apple manufactures the iPhone 11, iPhone 12, iPhone 13 and iPhone 14 in India. In addition to this, it was recently revealed that it will also manufacture AirPods in the country. The growing conflict between the United States and China, which began with a trade war but has since expanded to blanket bans on chips and capital exchanges, is prompting a rethink of the electronics industry’s decades-old supply chains.

The world’s reliance on China has become all too apparent during the pandemic, when Beijing’s restrictions cut off the supply of everything from phones to cars. Last year, Apple struggled to operate smoothly in its “iPhone City” complex in Zhengzhou, China. The company was even forced to cut production in the country. Apple’s supply chain data shows China’s declining importance in the company’s global manufacturing. In the five years to 2019, China was the main location for 44% to 47% of suppliers’ production bases, but this proportion fell to 41% in 2020 and 36% in 2021. Apple supplier Foxconn is stepping up its expansion in India, with plans to quadruple the number of employees at its iPhone factories within two years. The center recently announced incentives to boost local manufacturing in the country, which could benefit companies like Apple. Apple is pushing to expand in India for a number of reasons, chief among them the company’s growing fortunes in the country over the past few years. By 2022, Apple’s market share in India’s high-end smartphone market is 60%, far ahead of Samsung’s 21%. Also, India’s iPhone exports cross the $5 billion mark in 2022-23. In India, the number of people switching from Android and other operating systems to iOS is also at an all-time high.