PositiveNewsCorner

Based on inputs by Meeta

For Foxconn which is also known as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co, India has become important manufacturing base. In other words we can say that Apple iPhone, Amazon Echo production is moving from China to India.

The whole process is fast tracked, since Donald Trump has launched a trade war last year and announced tariffs on thousands of products manufactured in China.

“It’s a good business principle not to put all your eggs in a single basket,” says Josh Foulger, who runs Foxconn’s India operations. “We have to find viable and reliable alternatives. Obviously the alternative location has to be competitive. We can’t put a factory in Mexico for manufacturing mobiles. It might have worked 10 years ago, it just won’t work today.”

Foulger is angling to capture a third of the domestic smartphone market and 10% of the global one (up from a 2.5% share today). Eventually, he plans to add other products, including Amazon Echo speakers, to the mix. “Until now, India has made for India,” he says. “Soon India will make for the world.”

The Indian government is also cooperating. Prime Minister Narendra Modi government’s four-year-old “Make in India” policy seeks to turn the country into a manufacturing power by offering incentives to foreign companies to open factories. “The plan is to expand India’s $25 billion phone manufacturing to $400 billion by 2024,” says Pankaj Mahindroo, who heads the Indian Cellular & Electronics Assn

Skilled workers such as industrial designers are in short supply, and there isn’t yet much of a supplier network providing crucial components such as batteries, semiconductors and processors. “India is not there yet,” says Anshul Gupta, a senior research director at Gartner India. “But things are beginning to fall in place. India can bolster its manufacturing capacity and help the world cut its reliance on China.”