Foxconn’s Chinese staff barred from travelling to India iPhone factories, equipment shipments delayed: Report

Taiwanese firm Foxconn is halting new work rotations for its Chinese employees at its Apple iPhone factories in India and sending Taiwanese workers instead, reported the Rest of World, which quoted five people familiar with Foxconn’s operations in India. The report added that the shipments of specialised manufacturing equipment for India have also been held up in China.

The move may disrupt the iPhone assembly lines in the Foxconn factories in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. The report claimed that the Chinese government is responsible for the suspensions of worker deployments and equipment exports.

“Currently, the equipment and manpower are not allowed to go over (to India),” Rest of World quoted the sources as saying, who added, “And India doesn’t have the technology to produce the equipment.”

Impact of suspensions

If reports are true, and the halt is sustained, it may hinder Apple’s broader ambition to develop next-generation iPhones in India with Foxconn.

Apart from this, the latest development highlighted the difficulties Apple faces in its attempt to diversify production away from China.

Earlier, some of the most advanced iPhone models’ production was moved to India after some factory operations were disrupted by China’s zero-COVID policies.

In 2019, Foxconn began manufacturing iPhones at its Tamil Nadu plant and started boosting its Indian facilities and workforce in 2022. The two plants in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka together employ tens of thousands of workers.

However, the factories in India, run by Foxconn still rely on Chinese workers and a smaller number of Taiwanese expatriate employees, as well as specialised machinery from China, said the report.

The Taiwanese firm has deployed managers, engineers, and technicians to oversee production and tool maintenance in India.

Visa issues

Among other issues, the report claimed that Foxconn’s Chinese employees – set to travel to India – were asked to cancel their trips. A source even claimed that a person obtained visas and plane tickets, but stopped from travelling. A few Chinese employees – currently based in India – were told to return home before an unspecified date. The directive was given verbally to staff, Rest of World quoted one Foxconn employee as saying.

According to a Bloomberg report, Apple assembled $14 billion worth of iPhones in India in FY2024 via plants operated by Foxconn, Pegatron, and India’s Tata Group.

In the meantime, an expert opined that China may take steps to prevent India from challenging its position as a global manufacturing powerhouse.

“The underlying tensions will continue to ensure that this kind of economic rivalry between the two will only escalate,” Rest of World quoted Harsh V. Pant – a professor and vice president of studies and foreign policy at the Observer Research Foundation in New Delhi – as saying.

“Many in India will read this in a very negative light, whether or not the Chinese government is involved directly (in the suspensions),” Pant added.

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