As many people know, Apple has it’s primary production facilities of the iPhone and iPad line in China. This is all common in the smartphone and tablet industry, however in Apple’s case their production facilities have been plagued by controversy and now heavy tariff laws passed under the previous Trump administration in the United States.
According to new data from Nikkei, Apple’s production partners have continued to take Apple’s manufacturing outside of China. Apple is expected to begin iPad production in Vietnam in mid 2021, and iPhone 12 production to begin out of India within this quarter.
Before this move by Nikkei, Indian media outlets have begun reporting that Apple plans to begin building new iPhone 12 production lines within India and now that iPhones labeled with “Made in India” are already ready to begin worldwide shipping. This new report also says that Wistron will begin production of the iPhone 12 in Bangalore. Wistron plans to invest around 40 million dollars and hire 10,000 new employees for this new plant. The plant is expected to be up to full operational status with 1,000 workers buy October of this year (2021).
As of now, Apple currently makes products such as the iPhone 6s, iPhone XR, iPhone 11, and iPhone SE (2020) in India. Sources are currently reporting that Apple is expanding local production because Apple wants to reduce and eventually nearly eliminate it’s reliance on China. This move is unlikely to lead to a price drop for iPhone buyers but Apple is likely to pay substantially less in taxes for lower production.
