Foxconn Stops New Work Rotations for Chinese Workers at Apple iPhone Plants in India

Foxconn Technology Group, a Taiwanese multinational electronics contract maker, has halted new work rotations for Chinese employees at its Apple iPhone manufacturing facilities in India.

Rest of World claims that Taiwanese personnel are now being deployed, while Chinese workers stationed in Indian plants are being recalled. This decision by the electronics contract manufacturing behemoth signals growing economic tensions between China and India.

According to reports, shipments of specialised manufacturing equipment bound for India have also been delayed in China. This decision may disrupt the iPhone production lines in Foxconn factories in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, which employ approximately 50,000 people.

However, Foxconn-run factories in India continue to rely on Chinese workers and a smaller number of Taiwanese expatriate personnel, as well as sophisticated machinery from China.

The Chinese government is responsible for the suspension of labor deployments and equipment exports. "Currently, the equipment and manpower are not permitted to enter India, and India lacks the technology to manufacture the equipment," a source was cited as saying, as reported by the Rest of the World.

If the situation does not improve, it may jeopardize Apple's larger goal of developing next-generation iPhones in India alongside Foxconn. According to experts, the recent development highlights Apple's problems in diversifying production away from China.

Foxconn began manufacturing iPhones at its Tamil Nadu plant in 2019 and plans to expand its Indian facilities and personnel in 2022. Since then, Foxconn has expanded its manufacturing capacity throughout the state, including Karnataka and Telangana.

"Foxconn has invested more than $1.4 billion in India through 2024, with its business in the country exceeding $10 billion," claimed the company's chairman, Young Liu, recently. The Tamil Nadu facility alone employs over 40,000 people. The facility is presently producing the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 15.

According to an expert, China may take actions to keep India from threatening its status as a global manufacturing powerhouse.

According to Harsh V. Pant, a professor and vice president of research and foreign policy at the Observer Research Foundation in New Delhi, "the underlying tensions will continue to ensure that this kind of economic rivalry between the two will only escalate," as reported by Rest of World.