Apple’s one of the biggest Chinese component manufacturers, Luxshare, has reportedly decided to invest in Vietnam instead of India, citing the political tensions between the two countries.
According to a report by Business Standard, after three years, Luxshare’s move to make investments in Vietnam is a result of many failed attempts to expand its operations in India.
Those who do not know, Luxshare is Apple’s primary supplier for AirPods and could be an upcoming supplier for iPhones. As per the reports from the publication, the company now aims to shift their investment worth $330 million to Vietnam’s northern province of Bac Giang.
Moreover, the report highlights that the Vietnam government has cleared the license for Apple’s manufacturer last week. This has raised the total investment in Vietnam to $504 million.
Notably, this can result in loss for India, especially when Apple was planning to add Indian moguls like the Tatas into their supply value chain network, highlights the report.
Previously, Mint reported that so far, Apple has been heavily dependent on China for meeting its manufacturing demand—now, industry stakeholders say that Apple’s move shows an increasing sense of intent from the world’s most valuable company.
On 16 August, Mint reported that Apple, through Taiwanese manufacturer Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. Ltd—known better as Foxconn—commenced assembly of its iPhone 15 lineup in India. However, two senior industry officials told Mint that Apple only assembled its non-Pro iPhone 15 models in the country—the manufacturing of its flagship iPhone 15 Pro series remains away from India.
A senior industry consultant for the technology sector, who works with various companies as well as the Centre, said, requesting anonymity, “That Apple has diversified its assembly of the latest generation iPhones to India doesn’t come as any surprise. India as a nation has plenty of assembly capacity, and making its phones here gives it decent leverage to meet its expected demand. While this does show that India’s impact on the global technology supply chain is gradually increasing, a bigger step would have really come through if Apple would have brought the assembling of its more sophisticated ‘Pro’ iPhones to India.”
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Omprakash Tiwary is a business writer who delves into the intricacies of the corporate world. With a focus on finance and economic landscape. He offers readers valuable insights into market trends, entrepreneurship, and economic developments.
