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I tried looking around to get how much of the iPhones are actually made in India and couldn’t find any clear information. Apple seems to be relying on Foxconn’

I tried looking around to get how much of the iPhones are actually made in India and couldn’t find any clear information. Apple seems to be relying on Foxconn’s Indian subsidiary, and it is described as an assembly partner, so I’d expect all the parts and chips to be coming from neighboring countries (so mostly China?) It is still a pretty big deal, but my assumption would be that aside from the trumpeting headlines, Apple and Foxconn are still deeply depending on China at this point and will stay so for many years to come ?

joezydeco 4y ago
You're talking about turning a ship 10000x the size of the Titanic. A company like Apple with a CEO that built his career on logistics and production? You can be sure there's a plan. You just aren't allowed to see it.
- traceroute66 4y ago
  > A company like Apple with a CEO that built his career on logistics and production? You can be sure there's a plan. You just aren't allowed to see it. This, this and THIS ! Do not underestimate Apple when it comes to supply chain management, they are the kings. Don't believe me ? Look at the COVID-induced semi-conductor shortage. Every other manufacturer out there that relies on a very strict definition of Just-In-Time supply chain has had issues with stupid-long lead times. Meanwhile Apple ? Most of their product range has remained on next-day delivery throughout, and custom-build stuff has only been delayed by a few weeks rather than the months and years seen at other manufacturers. Apple work much much closer with their supply chain than the majority of other manufacturers out there.
  - nvrspyx 4y ago
    It took almost 3 months for me to get my MBP this year. Ordered in mid-March, wasn't delivered until early June.
  - alexpotato 4y ago
    Can you recommend any sources to learn more about this?
  - wiredfool 4y ago
    I've had MBPs on 5 week+ delivery schedules.
  - trap_goes_hot 4y ago
    Is there any data for this? TBH, It doesn't pass the smell-test for me. Apple has a tiny product range, meanwhile companies like Samsung sell everything from chips, screens, and other components, to phones, laptops, tvs, etc, etc. Or even Dell, which has a massive product range; Our company purchased a ton of hardware from them during covid with no lead time issues - at-least on the things we wanted.
    - kennend3 4y ago
      > Apple has a tiny product range This is how apple manages supply chain issues.. By having a few products it is much easier to manage. More so when many of your products dont change much year-to-year. How long has the ipad frame been the exact same size?
    - waste_monk 4y ago
      FWIW we had some pretty weird lead times with Dell during the worst of COVID. They did re-engineer some products to deal with chip shortages e.g. the D6000 docking stations were replaced with D6000S models that had no 3.5mm headphone jack (presmuably due to a scarcity of DAC chips). Network switch hardware still has some brutal delays at the moment, have been advised of 250+ day lead times for switches (across different models and manufacturers).
      - fomine3 4y ago
        Specifically for DAC, it's maybe due to the AKM factory fire
  - kennend3 4y ago
    This really reads like your typical apple propaganda by non-paid apple employees which is really weird. I got an Apple Ipad last year directly from apple.com, it took MONTHS to get it. Apple's own site told me this, once i placed my order: Shipment 1 Ships: 7-9 weeks There are numerous stories about how it is faster to get a referb studio vs a new one? > Apple work much much closer with their supply chain than the majority of other manufacturers out there. Foxconn and such dont just supply Apple. It is odd to believe that apple is the only one working with them to get their stuff. What do the others do, sit around and wait? Not talk to foxconn at all?
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
- makeitdouble 4y ago
  That's very generous to Apple. They have a history of success, but for better or worse we're in uncharted territory. I mean, if the transition takes 10+ years, wil Tim Cook even be at the helm as it happens ? BTW I didn't mean my comment as a critique of Apple, I think they did get everything right on the logistics side given what has been hapenning for the last decade (they weren't immune, but they clearly navigated it extremely well). But I would be warry of being too optimistic on their diversification efforts or looking at it as a done deal. Kinda reminds me of the effort to have the Mac Pro assembled in the US. A lot of people were looking at it im very simple terms, when it's a really difficult thing to do in any viable economical fashion.
evgen 4y ago
It is worth noting that a lot of components of the iPhone are not sourced from within China. China is where it is assembled, but the screens, RAM, CPU, and storage are produced in other countries. Of the remaining parts I think batteries and radios are the ones that will probably retain production in China the longest.
- dirtyid 4y ago
  Apple has ~150 suppliers in PRC, other countries barely break 30. They have some of the higher value components, but PRC pockets ~25% of BOM since iPhoneX, so likely higher now with BOE, YMTC (if it survies), Winstron and Luxshare, as as far as I know, a lot of the hardware design shifted to SZ during covid. Reality is apart from shifting final assembly to other countries (insert 8$ per phone meme), PRC is moving up value chain in Apple. And if Apple wants to keep PRC market access, they'll keep the affair happening. Hence US gov had to drop the boot with YMTC.
Kon-Peki 4y ago
My M1 Mac mini from 2020 says "Made in Malaysia" on it. The diversification has been happening longer than many people believe.
- makeitdouble 4y ago
  To note, the "made in xxxx" denomination can be pretty fuzzy. You can source pre-assembled/fully functional blocks from anywhere, put it in the final enclosing at the last destination, and stamp it as made there. Countries can be more or less strict about what threshold needs to be passed to be accepted as made locally, but I'd expect Malaysia to not be against computers production getting attributed to them.

joezydeco 4y ago

You're talking about turning a ship 10000x the size of the Titanic. A company like Apple with a CEO that built his career on logistics and production? You can be sure there's a plan. You just aren't allowed to see it.

traceroute66 4y ago
> A company like Apple with a CEO that built his career on logistics and production? You can be sure there's a plan. You just aren't allowed to see it. This, this and THIS ! Do not underestimate Apple when it comes to supply chain management, they are the kings. Don't believe me ? Look at the COVID-induced semi-conductor shortage. Every other manufacturer out there that relies on a very strict definition of Just-In-Time supply chain has had issues with stupid-long lead times. Meanwhile Apple ? Most of their product range has remained on next-day delivery throughout, and custom-build stuff has only been delayed by a few weeks rather than the months and years seen at other manufacturers. Apple work much much closer with their supply chain than the majority of other manufacturers out there.
- nvrspyx 4y ago
  It took almost 3 months for me to get my MBP this year. Ordered in mid-March, wasn't delivered until early June.
- alexpotato 4y ago
  Can you recommend any sources to learn more about this?
- wiredfool 4y ago
  I've had MBPs on 5 week+ delivery schedules.
- trap_goes_hot 4y ago
  Is there any data for this? TBH, It doesn't pass the smell-test for me. Apple has a tiny product range, meanwhile companies like Samsung sell everything from chips, screens, and other components, to phones, laptops, tvs, etc, etc. Or even Dell, which has a massive product range; Our company purchased a ton of hardware from them during covid with no lead time issues - at-least on the things we wanted.
  - kennend3 4y ago
    > Apple has a tiny product range This is how apple manages supply chain issues.. By having a few products it is much easier to manage. More so when many of your products dont change much year-to-year. How long has the ipad frame been the exact same size?
  - waste_monk 4y ago
    FWIW we had some pretty weird lead times with Dell during the worst of COVID. They did re-engineer some products to deal with chip shortages e.g. the D6000 docking stations were replaced with D6000S models that had no 3.5mm headphone jack (presmuably due to a scarcity of DAC chips). Network switch hardware still has some brutal delays at the moment, have been advised of 250+ day lead times for switches (across different models and manufacturers).
    - fomine3 4y ago
      Specifically for DAC, it's maybe due to the AKM factory fire
- kennend3 4y ago
  This really reads like your typical apple propaganda by non-paid apple employees which is really weird. I got an Apple Ipad last year directly from apple.com, it took MONTHS to get it. Apple's own site told me this, once i placed my order: Shipment 1 Ships: 7-9 weeks There are numerous stories about how it is faster to get a referb studio vs a new one? > Apple work much much closer with their supply chain than the majority of other manufacturers out there. Foxconn and such dont just supply Apple. It is odd to believe that apple is the only one working with them to get their stuff. What do the others do, sit around and wait? Not talk to foxconn at all?
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
makeitdouble 4y ago
That's very generous to Apple. They have a history of success, but for better or worse we're in uncharted territory. I mean, if the transition takes 10+ years, wil Tim Cook even be at the helm as it happens ? BTW I didn't mean my comment as a critique of Apple, I think they did get everything right on the logistics side given what has been hapenning for the last decade (they weren't immune, but they clearly navigated it extremely well). But I would be warry of being too optimistic on their diversification efforts or looking at it as a done deal. Kinda reminds me of the effort to have the Mac Pro assembled in the US. A lot of people were looking at it im very simple terms, when it's a really difficult thing to do in any viable economical fashion.

evgen 4y ago

It is worth noting that a lot of components of the iPhone are not sourced from within China. China is where it is assembled, but the screens, RAM, CPU, and storage are produced in other countries. Of the remaining parts I think batteries and radios are the ones that will probably retain production in China the longest.

dirtyid 4y ago
Apple has ~150 suppliers in PRC, other countries barely break 30. They have some of the higher value components, but PRC pockets ~25% of BOM since iPhoneX, so likely higher now with BOE, YMTC (if it survies), Winstron and Luxshare, as as far as I know, a lot of the hardware design shifted to SZ during covid. Reality is apart from shifting final assembly to other countries (insert 8$ per phone meme), PRC is moving up value chain in Apple. And if Apple wants to keep PRC market access, they'll keep the affair happening. Hence US gov had to drop the boot with YMTC.

Kon-Peki 4y ago

My M1 Mac mini from 2020 says "Made in Malaysia" on it. The diversification has been happening longer than many people believe.

makeitdouble 4y ago
To note, the "made in xxxx" denomination can be pretty fuzzy. You can source pre-assembled/fully functional blocks from anywhere, put it in the final enclosing at the last destination, and stamp it as made there. Countries can be more or less strict about what threshold needs to be passed to be accepted as made locally, but I'd expect Malaysia to not be against computers production getting attributed to them.