Foxconn pulls Chinese staff from India in hurdle for Apple

While Foxconn still makes most iPhones in China, it has gradually built sizable assembly operations in India in recent years.

Foxconn Technology Group has asked hundreds of Chinese engineers and technicians to return home from its iPhone factories in India, dealing a blow to Apple Inc.’s manufacturing push in the South Asian country.

The bulk of Foxconn’s Chinese staff at iPhone plants in southern India have been told to fly back in a move that began about two months ago, people familiar with the matter said, asking not to be named as the information is private. More than 300 Chinese workers have left, and mostly support staff from Taiwan remain in India, one of the people said.

It’s not immediately clear why Apple’s biggest iPhone assembler sent the workers home. Earlier this year, officials in Beijing verbally encouraged regulatory agencies and local governments to curb technology transfers and equipment exports to India and Southeast Asia in what is a potential attempt to prevent companies from shifting manufacturing elsewhere, Bloomberg News has reported.

Apple Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook has lauded the skill and expertise of Chinese assembly workers, highlighting it as the key reason — not just more favorable cost — for setting up the majority of Apple’s production in the country. Their removal from India will slow down the training of local workforce as well as the transfer of manufacturing technology from China, likely raising production costs, the people said.

The extraction won’t impact the quality of production in India, but it’s likely to affect efficiency on the assembly line, according to one of the people.

The change comes at a bad time for Apple, as it is preparing to ramp up production of the new iPhone 17 with its manufacturing partners in India. Foxconn is in the process of building a new iPhone plant in southern India.

A representative for Apple declined to comment. Foxconn didn’t respond to an emailed request for comment.

Foxconn’s move follows the steps Beijing has taken to make it harder for technology, skilled labor and specialized equipment to leave China for manufacturing upstarts such as India. The South Asian nation and countries including Vietnam are trying to attract global tech companies, taking advantage of US-China tensions that are prompting firms to diversify their locations.

That supply chain shift started under US President Donald Trump’s first term, with Apple moving some gadget assembly to India and Vietnam. The diversification is now further propelled by his new tariff plans, to which China has responded by restricting exports of rare earth minerals, labor and tech.

While Foxconn still makes most iPhones in China, it has gradually built sizable assembly operations in India in recent years. It had deployed a large number of experienced Chinese engineers in the country to help speed up its expansion.

Chinese managers have been critical in training Foxconn staff in India. The South Asian nation began assembling iPhones at scale just four years ago, and now accounts for a fifth of the global output. Apple has been planning to build most iPhones for the US in India by late 2026, a move that Trump has criticized. The president has said Apple should make iPhones for American customers in the US.

But expensive American labor make iPhone production in the US unfeasible. And any moves by China to prevent its experienced engineers from moving to the US would make any plans by Apple to set up gadget assembly at home even more unattainable.

Relations between China and India have been strained for years, as both countries vie for greater influence in the region. Tensions have eased somewhat since last year, and several senior officials like India’s defense minister and national security adviser have recently traveled to China for high-level meetings.

Still, direct flights between the neighbors haven’t resumed following skirmishes at their border, and India maintains curbs on visas for Chinese citizens and bans on Chinese apps including TikTok. Meanwhile, China is upholding an export ban on fertilizer products to India after having eased that for other countries.