Production was supposed to start two months earlier but was delayed following an investigation by Apple into the working conditions of the workers.
Little by little, Apple is trying to reduce its dependence on China in the production of its devices. “Designed by Apple in California, Assembled in China”, the cult replica inscribed on headed products for many years, could thus change in the coming months. In recent years, the American firm has opened factories in India to leave the Middle Kingdom and produce iPhone, iPad or Mac there.
For its part, the iPhone 13 has not yet had the opportunity to be produced in the second most populous country in the world. At the beginning of December 2021, violent riots took place in a Wistron factory, where iPhones were to be manufactured. In question, the working conditions of the workers, deemed too precarious, which led to mass food poisoning. The workers’ complaints were quickly confirmed by the Indian government and Apple, for whom the case and the damage cost nearly 60 million dollars.
A few days later, it was in a Foxconn factory that the same problem arose. The factory will close on orders from Apple to internally investigate and test it. Production of the iPhone 13 was to begin there in January, as at Wistron, but it never started following the closure of the factory.
According to Business Standard Indian, it seems that the problems are slowly starting to resolve for Cupertino. Indeed, the Foxconn factory in Sriperumbudur, near the old Indian city of Chennai, should reopen its doors in the next few days and start production of Apple’s smartphone in early April. The productions would be destined as much for the domestic market as for export. However, it is difficult to know what proportion of iPhones sold in Belgium will come from India.
One thing is certain, however, the announcement of the start of Indian production is very good news for Apple. The Foxconne factory in Shenzen, China, has just closed due to a spike in covid cases in the country.
–
