Taiwan-based contract manufacturer Foxconn has won an order to assemble AirPods for Apple and plans to build a $200 million factory complex in India to produce them, Reuters reports citing “two people with direct knowledge of the matter.”
The deal will see Foxconn, the world’s largest contract electronics maker and assembler of around 70% of all iPhones, become an AirPod supplier for the first time and underlines efforts by the key Apple supplier to further diversify production away from China. AirPods are currently made by a range of Chinese suppliers.
One source said Foxconn will invest more than $200 million in the new India AirPod plant in the southern Indian state of Telangana. It wasn’t immediately clear how much the AirPod order would be worth.
The person, who requested anonymity as the matter was not public yet, said Foxconn officials had debated internally for months about whether to assemble AirPods due to relatively lower profit margins on making the device, but ultimately opted to go ahead with the deal to “reinforce engagement” with Apple.
“That way, we are more likely to get orders for their new products,” the person said.
The decision to set up production in India was requested by Apple, according to the source.
MacDailyNews Take: As we wrote earlier this month, “The CCP’s lunacy is India’s gain.”
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No reason the plant cannot be built in the U.S. and as usual, Biden clueless and asleep at creating jobs. Trump would have been on the phone after hearing the news in a N.Y. minute negotiating a deal to bring in jobs…