Apple Freezes Hiring, Ramps Up Manufacturing Capabilities in India

While Apple has initiated a hiring freeze in its main operations, it is ramping up its manufacturing capabilities in India. India's Telecom and IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw recently made an announcement that India's biggest iPhone manufacturing plant will come up in Hosur near Bengaluru. This plant will employ nearly 60,000 people; out of which 6000 will be tribal women from regions surrounding Ranchi and Hazaribagh, who will be trained to manufacture iPhones. They will be the first employees of the new plant.

This is part of Apple’s larger push for manufacturing in India, following their move to manufacture Airpods locally. There has also been an active effort to reduce the tech gap with China and shorten the production lag from the previous period of six to nine months. 

This news comes after a report found that Foxconn were planning to build up the workforce at Indian iPhone factories. They plan to increase the total number of employees to 70,000 by adding 53,000 more workers over the next two years as part of Apple’s larger strategy to shift production away from China.

Meanwhile, Karnataka might also become the home to India’s first chip fabrication facility, as the International Chip Manufacturing Consortium has announced a plan to set up a $3 billion chip fab in Mysuru. This is also backed up by government support incentives of up to $5.6 billion. 

China Is No More Apple’s Favourite 

China has been a sore point for Foxconn and Apple, as manufacturers in the country have been facing disruption in production due to a variety of issues. Their factory in Zhengzhou has over 200,000 workers, and is expected to face a production capacity crunch during the upcoming Lunar Festival and Chinese New Year period. 

Apple is also facing a supply shortage for its new iPhones due to an assembling unit shutdown in China. Not only did the country ask factories to shut down in the midst of a deadly heatwave in August, but they have also been extremely stringent on their Zero-COVID policy. 

Sources from Foxconn have also stated that they are planning to ramp up production in India to serve the country’s high demand for iPhones and also to increase production capacity for basic models of the phone. 

India To Be Apple’s Next Goldmine?

India has become the apple of Apple’s eye, as Indian revenue for the tech giant recently touched an all-time high of $4.03 billion. This marks an increase of almost 45% over last year. India also set a new all-time revenue record in terms of iPhone sales during the last quarter, solidifying its position as one of Apple’s most valuable markets. 

According to market research firm Counterpoint Research, Apple has a 37% share in the premium smartphone market in India, and is the top-selling brand in the ultra-premium segment. 

US Hiring Freeze versus Indian Hiring Spree

Although not formally announced, Apple CEO Tim Cook has stated that they are “being very deliberate” about their hiring, and that they are continuing to hire, but not everywhere in the company. In August, the company laid off around 100 contract-based recruiters as a cost-cutting measure on the back of their lackluster iPhone 14 sales worldwide.

Their expansion efforts in India stand in stark contrast to their hiring freeze in the West. It seems that India has become the next big market for tech firms to not only build up their talent pool, but to also leverage for providing manufacturing facilities.