Apple may have plans to expand its manufacturing arm here in India due to the hurdles it's facing in China. The Covid-19 lockdowns that had been put in place have affected the production as well as the supply of many of the Cupertino tech company’s products.
According to a report by the Wall Street Journal, Apple may soon reconsider moving a portion of its manufacturing to India. Products like iPhones, iPads and MacBooks are manufactured in China.
The company seems to have informed some of its contractors that it will expand to other regions including India and Vietnam. The decision was also taken to reduce the company’s dependence on the country’s manufacturing units in China.
Apple was already in the works of diversifying its production contracts to other parts of the world by 2020. However, due to the outbreak of Covid-19, the plans were delayed. Now, it looks like the company is moving ahead with its plans in full steam. The Chinese government’s repeated lockdowns and strict protocols for people working in the factories were also other reasons for this.
A big win for India
This will bring a boost to the local manufacturing units in India. Currently, the iPhone 13 and iPhone SE are manufactured in India as well. We can expect to see a gradual reduction in the prices of the products once the company is able to optimize and expand its supply chain as well.
Apple is also expected to open its official offline store in Mumbai as well. Previous reports hinted that the company may the store in August of this year. They are also expected to launch a second store in Delhi too, but the timeline is unconfirmed.
There are already Apple reseller stores across the country like Maple and Unicorn. The stores are designed just the way Apple does and these also already have many resources for Apple Support. When Apple does launch its official stores, it is unclear how the reseller stores will come into the picture.
It would be beneficial for Apple to continue working with its reseller partners. Or the company may even acquire the franchises. This would reduce the company's efforts to train any new talent or to spend more on infrastructure.
