Recently Apple has been expanding its supply chain to include more factories outside of China. As one of Apple's biggest partners, Foxconn is looking to also expand to suit those needs, with the company expected to invest around $1 billion to expand its presence in southern India.
According to a report from Reuters, Foxconn is interested in expanding its production capabilities outside of mainland China. In part, due to the on-going trade war between the US and China, which is resulting in additional tariffs on imports and exports. As the report says, “there is a strong request from Apple to its clients to move part of the iPhone production out of China”.
Foxconn assembles iPhones for Apple and reportedly wants to expand assembly lines for Apple in India as it would be a cheaper option. Since the early 2010's, the average salary of a Chinese factory worker has risen about 10% per year, something that Foxconn probably takes into account when thinking over its options for future investments.
If Foxconn starts assembling iPhones in India it will probably lead to a bigger market share for Apple in the country. Apple has had a difficult time entering the Indian market. Currently, Apple is estimated to only have a 1% market share in India.
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KitGuru Says: A portion of Apple's production is likely always going to remain in China, but piece by piece, the company is diversifying with partners in other regions.