More iPhones could be built in India than ever before as $700 million Foxconn factory planned

Apple iPhone maker Foxconn is reportedly ready to spend around $700 million to spin up a new factory in India. The move would see local production increase as the company looks to move production capacity beyond Chinese borders.

Foxconn already has a presence in India but it’s thought that this new investment, its single biggest to date, will see it build a new plant covering 300 acres close to Bangalore airport.

The new plant will reportedly create as many as 100,000 jobs which is a figure that’s still dwarfed by the circa 200,000 working at the iPhone 14 factory in Zhengzhou, China.

Production diversification

Foxconn is just one of the partners that Apple is thought to have urged to move production away from China, at least in part. The company is concerned that an over-reliance on Chinese production could put it at a disadvantage.

Apple has struggled to keep some products in stock over the last couple of years thanks mainly to Chinese manufacturing delays. The COVID-19 pandemic, lockdowns, and trade tensions between the United States and China have at times left Apple in a difficult position.

In late 2022 Apple’s best iPhone, the iPhone 14 Pro, was almost impossible to find in stores because the aforementioned Zhengzhou plant was crippled by lockdowns and worker unrest.

Now, Bloomberg (opens in new tab) reports that Foxconn is working to diversify its production including moves to build a new factory in India.

The new plant is expected to build parts for iPhones, and it’s also possible that it will assemble the finished article as well, however, it’s unlikely to be finished in time for the iPhone 15.

Recent reports also had Apple partner Goertek ready to invest $280 million in a Vietnamese presence that would see it build Apple products in the country. It’s also thought that 90% of Chinese tech manufacturers are keen to expand beyond their own country, with Vietnam and India as two possible destinations.

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to ‘explain’ those thoughts in more detail, too.

Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn’t looked back. Since then he’s seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He’s been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.