NEW DELHI, May 15: Ignoring the US president Donald Trump’s “advice” to the Apple not to expand its production in India, the Apple has reaffirmed its commitment to India as a key production hub.
“There is no change in Apple’s investment plans in India,” government sources said on Thursday adding that the tech major has “assured the Indian government” of its continued engagement despite Trump’s remarks.
Speaking at a business event in Doha, Qatar, earlier in the day, Trump said he had a direct conversation with Apple CEO Tim Cook, advising him against expanding Apple’s manufacturing footprint in India, unless it is specifically to serve the Indian market.
The US President said he had “little problem” with Tim Cook. “I said to him, my friend, I am treating you very good. You are coming up with $500 billion, but now I hear you are building all over India. I don’t want you building in India. You can build in India, if you want to take care of India because India is one of the highest tariff nations in the world, so it is very hard to sell in India,” the US President said.
“We’re not interested in you building in India, they can take care of themselves.” Trump also said Apple, whose iPhones and MacBooks are sought after worldwide, would increase its production in the United States. “Apple will be upping their production in the United States,” he added.
Despite the rhetoric, India’s electronics industry remains confident. Rajoo Goel, secretary general of the Electronic Industries Association of India (ELCINA), emphasised the importance of building deeper capabilities. “We need to go deeper into the value chain and do more of the components locally,” Goel said citing the government’s new electronic component manufacturing scheme as a positive step.
On Trump’s comments, he remarked, “It may slow things down a bit, but I really don’t think it is going to impact India that much. We are still doing a very small share of the global market for Apple.”
Calling the statements “just a statement,” Goel said India was on “a very strong footing” in electronics manufacturing. “Let us not get disheartened by this… I’m sure Donald Trump might change his stance,” he added.
India has increasingly become an integral part of Apple’s global supply chain. Contract manufacturers like Foxconn and Pegatron have significantly expanded their operations under India’s production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme, and Apple’s iPhone exports from India have hit record levels in the past year.
Donald Trump’s nudge to Apple against manufacturing in India comes at a critical time when the iPhone maker is planning to expand its India production and shift its manufacturing away from China to tackle the Trump administration’s tariffs move. Earlier this month, media reports said Tim Cook had said he expected “a majority of iPhones sold in the US will have India as their country of origin.”
Apple currently has three plants in India, two in Tamil Nadu and one in Karnataka. One of these is operated by Foxconn, and the other two by the Tata Group. Two more Apple plants are in the pipeline. In the last fiscal ending March, Apple had assembled iPhones worth $22 billion in India, a 60 per cent increase in production as compared to the previous financial year.
(Manas Dasgupta)
