Apple wants iPhone 16 batteries to be largely made in India, asks suppliers to increase production

Published On: December 7, 2023

Highlights

Apple asks its supply partners to set up and scale up production of iPhone 16 batteries in India.
Some players like Japan’s TDK have already announced their investment in India.
Let’s see the reason and the potential results of Apple’s growing love for India.

Apple has reportedly asked its suppliers to prioritise iPhone 16 battery manufacturing in India to reduce its dependence on China. Some manufacturers have been urged to set up factories in India while already established partners have been asked to scale up production. A Japanese supplier has already initiated a 180-acre facility in the state of Haryana in the country. Here’s what’s going on:

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iPhone 16 battery manufacturing in India

The Financial Times reports that Apple wants to diversify its business by moving more iPhone 16 battery manufacturing from China to India.

It has therefore informed component makers like Desay of China to build a unit in India and Simplo Technology of Taiwan to ramp up production in its Chennai-based factory in India.

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Meanwhile, Deputy Minister for Information Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar posted on X about the Japanese battery cell maker TDK’s investment plans for India. He revealed it is going to be a 180-crore facility in Manesar, Haryana. These batteries will be used in Made in India iPhones.

As he highlighted, this is in large part thanks to PM Modi’s Production Linked Scheme which incentivizes foreign players to make in India.

However, Apple also has its business and ideological reasons to move away from China like the cold tech war between the US and China, uncertainties and production troubles during the pandemic, and questionable working conditions of Chinese labour.

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Anyways, once all the aforementioned three companies are set in India, TDK will be making the electric cells, while Desay and Simplo will package them as batteries and assemblers like Foxconn and Tata will put them inside iPhones. Tata Group recently bought a 100% stake in Wistron’s India unit and Foxconn has also announced a $1.5bn factory in the country.

As Mr Chandrasekhar points out, all these will strengthen the electronics manufacturing ecosystem in India and add value in the form of jobs and income too.