India to Sustain iPhone Growth Despite Foxconn Recall: Vaishnaw

• India is strengthening local electronics manufacturing and mobile component supply chains.
• Over 300 Chinese engineers left Foxconn India, raising concerns over iPhone 17 production.
• Foxconn invested $2.56B in India and exported $3.2B worth of iPhones from March to May, 97% to the U.S.

Union Electronics and IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has reaffirmed India's commitment to building a strong electronics manufacturing ecosystem, while simultaneously expressing optimism about maintaining growth amid recent setbacks.

The minister said, "We are developing our own capabilities in a very sustained way… There will be challenges in every growth path, but we have the confidence that we will be able to sustain growth".

Vaishnaw's comments come on the heels of reports that Foxconn's iPhone assembly facilities in India have seen the departure of more than 300 Chinese engineers and technicians in the last two months and that this would present a challenge for preparation of iPhone 17 production given Apple's goal to diversify its supply chain away from China.

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Vaishnaw stressed that India has worked on to develop domestic manufacturing capability in the last three to four years; developing local supply chains and developing the technical skills to manufacture almost 1,000 components that go into a mobile phone. It also provides a strategic thrust into India's overall vision of becoming a global electronics manufacturing hub.

Foxconn, a major Apple supplier, is expanding their presence in India with a new plant in Oragadam, Tamil Nadu, and a $2.56 billion investment into their Devanahalli operation.

"Support is coming from Taiwan, the US, South Korea, and from our own engineers… The capabilities today we have in our own country are significant, especially design capabilities", said Vaishnaw.

Foxconn plans to manufacture 100,000 iPhones at Devanahalli by December. In the three months from March to May, Foxconn shipped $3.2 billion worth of iPhones from India, with 97 percent going to the U.S.