Foxconn, the leading Apple supplier, has acquired a massive 1.2 million-square-meter (13 million-square-foot) property on the outskirts of Bengaluru, India, according to a statement issued to the London Stock Exchange. The purchase, located in Devanahalli near the airport for the Indian tech hub, is part of Foxconn’s efforts to diversify its production away from China following strict COVID rules. Foxconn is the world’s largest contract electronics manufacturer and a key assembler of Apple iPhones.
In March, it was announced that Apple would “soon” manufacture iPhones at a new plant in the state, creating “about 100,000 jobs.” Bloomberg News reported last month that Foxconn was planning to invest $700 million in a new factory in Karnataka, citing unnamed sources. Foxconn chairman Young Liu visited the state to “deepen partnerships and seek cooperation in new areas such as semiconductor development and electric vehicles,” as he met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who expressed interest in enhancing India’s tech and innovation ecosystem.
Since 2019, Foxconn has manufactured Apple handsets in India at its facility in the southern state of Tamil Nadu. Two other Taiwanese suppliers, Wistron and Pegatron, also produce and assemble Apple devices in India. Apple has been making a push into the Indian market, with CEO Tim Cook opening the company’s first two retail stores in the country last month. Apple, the world’s largest company by market value, is banking on the 1.4 billion people in India—home to the second-highest number of smartphone users globally, after China.
In September, Apple announced plans to manufacture its latest iPhone 14 in India, just weeks after launching the flagship model. Last year, the country accounted for 7% of Apple’s iPhone production, according to Bloomberg, lagging behind the United States, China, Japan, and other countries. Apple’s expanding manufacturing in India aligns with Modi’s “Make in India” strategy, which encourages foreign businesses to produce goods in the South Asian nation.