• Friday, March 29, 2024

Business

Apple supplier Pegatron mulls second India factory, 6 months after opening the first: report

Representational Image (iStock)

By: Shubham Ghosh

Pegatron Corp, the Taiwanese supplier of Apple Inc, is in talks to set up a second factory in India, Reuters reported citing two informed sources, as the American tech giant’s partners continue with their mission to diversify production away from China.

According to the sources that spoke on the condition of anonymity, Pegatron has plans to add a second facility near Chennai, the capital of the southern state of Tamil Nadu, six months after opening the first with an investment of $150 million (£122.7 million), the report added.

According to one of the sources, the new factor is “to assemble the latest iPhones”.

Reuters added that while Pegatron refused to make a remark, it said that “any acquisition of assets will be disclosed based on regulations”.

India is viewed as the next growth frontier for Apple. Between April last year and February this year, smartphones worth around $9 billion (£7.36 billion) have been exported and iPhones accounted for more than half of that, according to the India Cellular and Electronics Association, the report said.

Pegatron presently accounts for 10 per cent of Apple’s iPhone production in the South Asian nation on an annualised basis, according to research company Counterpoint.

The talks for setting up the second Pegatron unit on lease are currently underway and it will be reportedly located inside Mahindra World City in Chennai, not far from where the first one was opened last September.

Apple and its key suppliers have been shifting production from China as they want to avoid an impact on business from escalating US-China trade problems.

This week, another southern state, Karnataka, said that it has approved an investment worth $968 million (£791.9 million) by Foxconn, leading to generation of 50,000 jobs.

Last week, Reuters reported that Foxconn has plans to set up a $200-million (£163.6 million) factory in India to produce wireless earphones for Apple after bagging a contract.

It already assembles some iPhone models at its plant in Tamil Nadu.

Related Stories

Loading