Taiwanese component maker – Pegatron – which is also Apple’s second-largest contract manufacturer, has registered a subsidiary in India, in order to boost the manufacturing capacity of iPhones in the country, amid rising US-China tensions.
“Pegatron has registered its India subsidiary in Chennai. Currently, the company’s officials are in discussions with multiple state governments to find land to set up factories after which they would import plant and machinery,” a person familiar with the development told the Economic Times.
Taipei-based electronic manufacturing behemoth is one of three global makers of iPhones for Apple. The other two – Wistron and Foxconn – are already operating in India. It is important to note that the Taiwanese electronics manufacturing company manufactures game consoles, notebooks, desktops, motherboards, tablet devices, multimedia players, smartphones, and others.
This development indicates Apple’s push to diversify its supply chain out of China. On the other hand, India is also hoping to attract companies looking for alternative manufacturing bases. Recently, the Indian government also launched several initiatives including a production-linked incentive (PLI) programme to incentivize large electronic manufacturers to set up production bases in the country and establish India at the global level in the electronics sector.
In 2019, Apple’s turnover in India was nearly $1.5 billion. Although the company’s market share is only 2-3%, it is a leader in the premium phone segment. However, Apple’s footprint in China is significantly greater as the market value of its electronic merchandise produced there in 2018-19 was about $200 billion.