Foxconn, Apple’s primary manufacturing partner, will double monthly production of new AirPods at their facility in Hyderabad, India.
Doubling production capacity
Foxconn’s facility in Hyderabad, India currently has a target production capacity of 100,000 units every month. Through an “overhaul [of] five existing production lines to make new AirPods models”, Foxconn will increase the target capacity to 200,000 units, according to a report from The Economic Times. They will also more than double their workforce from around 2,000 employees to around 5,000.
Some of the new machinery will be existing equipment from Foxconn facilities in Vietnam, according to the Economic Times report. In total, Foxconn is investing ₹48 billion, including ₹30 billion already invested.
Continued diversification outside of China
It’s no secret that Apple is looking to diversify its manufacturing outside of China. Most recently, production of the new Apple Vision Pro was moved to Vietnam. The Economic Times reports that this increased AirPods output will be used to serve India, the United States, and Europe. Currently, electronics from India are exempted from tariffs in the US, and Apple already makes most of their US iPhones in India.
Apple has also been expanding production and operations in the United States. In August, Apple made a commitment to invest $600 billion over the next four years. They also announced the American Manufacturing Program, which is moving production of all cover glass for iPhone and Apple Watch to the US, among other things. Outside of these efforts, Apple has shifted US production away from China for most products to places like India, Vietnam, Malaysia and Thailand.
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