As a result of problems in China, Apple supplier Foxconn is reportedly planning to quadruple the staff at its iPhone factory in India over the next two years.
According to a Reuters report citing two government sources with knowledge of the matter, the Apple supplier intends to increase the workforce at its plant in southern India to 70,000 over the next two years by hiring 53,000 more employees.
Tight virus limitations at Apple's Zhengzhou facility, the world's largest iPhone factory, disrupted production and raised concerns about China's virus policy's impact on global supply chains.
Because of the delays, Apple reduced its expectation for shipments of the premium iPhone 14 models this week, lowering its sales outlook for the critical year-end holiday season.
Although Foxconn's Zhengzhou facility, which employs 200,000 people, dwarfs Apple's Tamil Nadu plant in terms of size, it is crucial to Apple's aspirations to move production away from China.
Although Foxconn is known to be interested in growing the factory, neither the size nor the timing of the expansion have previously been disclosed.
On a Thursday results call, Foxconn Chairman Liu Young-way stated that the business would modify its production capacity and output to ensure that there would be no impact from additional potential supply disruptions for the Christmas and Lunar New Year holidays.
The company also manufactures items for other worldwide tech firms, according to the report, but the latest recruiting effort is primarily motivated by the need to satisfy rising iPhone demand, according to the source.
According to a source in Taiwan, Foxconn is expanding its facilities in India to improve capacity for basic models and match Indian demand.
"We are gradually increasing our production scale there," the person told Reuters.
Due to difficulties in China, Foxconn has informed Tamil Nadu officials of its plans to step up employment at the Indian facility, according to a source for Reuters.
At least three of Apple's international partners currently assemble iPhones in India: Wistron in nearby Karnataka state, Foxconn in Tamil Nadu, and Pegatron.
In September, JP Morgan analysts predicted that Apple might produce one out of every four iPhones in India by 2025 and that, up from 5% today, 25% of all Apple products, including Mac, iPad, Apple Watch, and AirPods, would be made outside of China by then.
In 2019, Foxconn, formerly known as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd, opened a facility in India and has since increased output. This year saw the start of iPhone 14 production.
