Apple wants to make iPhone 16 batteries in India, not China

Every time Apple has looked for an alternative to China for production, it has turned to India – this time for battery production.

Apple is encouraging suppliers to move to India-made iPhone batteries for the upcoming iPhone 16 series as part of its broader effort to diversify the supply chain, the Financial Times reported on December 6, citing anonymous sources. The tech giant reportedly gave the mandate to Shenzhen-based Desay and Taiwanese battery supplier Simplo Technology.

Amid rising tensions between Washington and Beijing, Apple has not only increased manufacturing in India — it is iPhone 15 phones manufactured there — but is also sharpening his side physical presence with retail stores in India. Local business houses take note. Massive Indian conglomerate Tata Group already has took over operations of Apple supplier Wistron plants and is also reportedly seeking control of Pegatron’s.

However, India is still no match for Chinese manufacturing in terms of speed, scale and even quality of production. Its physical infrastructure, such as highways and railways for time and cost efficient deliveries, is also missing. Add to that regulatory barriers that have been put in place after a border dispute with China. In 2020, India implemented stricter regulations require foreign investments from the controversial neighbor to be approved by the central government—which applies to most of Apple’s suppliers since they are based in China.

Company of interest: TDK

Earlier this week, TDK, a Japanese supplier for Apple, announced it is the construction of a 180-acre facility in Manesar, in the state of Haryana, “to build cells for batteries that will be used #MadeInIndia iPhones,” Rajeev Chandrasekhar, India’s Minister of State for Electronics and IT, posted on X on Dec 4. TDK expects to start production in 2025.

The cells manufactured by TDK and its peers are packed by companies like Desay and Simplo and then sent it to assemblers like Foxconn.

Apple’s operations are moving from China to India, according to the figures

$1.5 billion: How much Foxconn, Apple’s largest supplier, plans to invest more in a new production facility in India

14 out of 17: Chinese suppliers pitched by Apple, which the Indian government gave initial approval to operate in India in January. The companies are expected to find a local joint venture (JV) partner domestically and then seek full approval for the set-up.

$5 billion: Value of iPhones Apple exported from India between April and October, representing 177% year-on-year growth

8%: Apple’s expected Indian smartphone market share in 2024, up from 6%

$330 million: Size of investment Apple component maker Luxshare pulled out of India in November, after years of failing to get Indian government approval for an expansion plan. The primary supplier of Airpods will instead use the funding to grow its Vietnam presence.

$19.5 billion: Size of the joint venture between Foxconn and Vedanta, initially announced in February 2022, which was shelved this April, after the two reportedly failed to find a technology partner.

12 o’clock: Daily work shifts, starting at nine hours, Apple and Foxconn won in Karnataka, home of IT capital Bengaluru, as part of law reform. Overtime hours were also pushed up from 75 to 145 hours over a three-month period.

Quotable: The politics of making the Indian shop floor as efficient as the Chinese one

“The One-Party system effectively gives them subsidies, infrastructure, buses in labor when there are labor shortages. But India, it is a noisy democracy. You have to fight with legislators, landowners, labor groups, a lot of these people to get the same level of efficiency.”

—Nilesh Christophereditor of Rest of World magazine