FP staff06 Oct 2022 12:43:29 IST
After moving the bulk of the iPhone 14 series from China to India, Apple is now looking to shift a significant portion of the production of its premium headphones. Apple has decided it wants its factories in India to start making the bulk of its AirPods and Beats branded audio devices in India, and has asked its suppliers to refocus where they source their components.
The move is part of Apple’s gradual diversification away from China as it seeks to reduce the risk of supply chain disruptions stemming from a strict zero-spread policy for COVID-19 and tensions with the U.S.
Apple is in talks with a number of its suppliers to increase production in India, including for key speaker devices. The Cupertino-based tech giant wants to set up production of AirPods and Beats devices in India at full capacity as early as next year.
Currently, most of the AirPods and Beats speaker devices are manufactured by Foxconn and Luxshare Precision Industry. While Foxconn already has the ability to start manufacturing Apple’s audio devices once they start regularly receiving components, Luxshare and its affiliates, which already make AirPods in Vietnam and China, will soon set up factories or partner with local manufacturers.
By moving production of AirPods and Beats to India, Apple will increase its production in the country. Apple started manufacturing some of the older versions of the iPhone in India back in 2017 when Wistron, one of Apple’s manufacturing partners, opened a plant in India. Apple’s manufacturing in India began to develop in earnest after Foxconn opened its factory in Tamil Nadu, where initially they only produced non-flagship and some older iPhones for the Indian market.
It is not clear at this point which AirPods will be manufactured in India. In all likelihood, the Indian ventures are starting with the most affordable version of AirPods, i.e. AirPods 2nd Gen, which have been around for a while now.
It’s also possible to make AirPods Gen 3, which cost more and lack basic features like ANC and transparency modes. The top-tier AirPods Pro 2, which get all the benefits of Apple, and the improved H2 chip from Apple. Initially, they may not be manufactured in Apple’s Indian factories, but after the manufacturing process is sorted out and all the flaws are solved, we can see that the AirPods Pro 2 will also be manufactured in India.
https://www.firstpost.com/tech/news-analysis/apple-wants-to-shift-a-major-chunk-of-airpods-and-beats-production-to-india-11395141.html
