Apple’s Big Shift: 5 Lakh Potential Jobs In India In Next Three Years As Supply Chain Moves from China

Apple's ecosystem of component makers and suppliers is expected to employ around five lakh (500,000) people directly in India over the next three years, an increase of over three times from current numbers.

The surge in employment is in anticipation of Apple moving at least half of its existing supply chain from China to India, Economic Times reported citing senior officials.

The company aims to increase local value addition from its Indian suppliers, mirroring the strategy it employed in China where it achieved the highest domestic value addition of 28 per cent.

Currently, the value addition in India stands at 11-12 per cent, with expectations to increase to 15-18 per cent.

The shift in Apple’s manufacturing base to India is likely to enhance the country's role as a significant market for both exports and local sales of Apple products, potentially leading to a robust supplier ecosystem and positioning India as a potential R&D hub, according to the experts cited in the ET report.

Neil Shah of Counterpoint Research noted that local value addition in India in an iphone is presently at 14 per cent, compared to 41 per cent in China, with prospects to rise above 20 per cent in the next three to five years.

Apple has become India’s largest blue-collar job creator within its supplier network since the initiation of the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for smartphones in August 2021, creating 1.5 lakh (150,000) jobs. Indirect employment is estimated at about three lakh (300,000) people.

Apple contractors like Foxconn, Tata, and Salcomp are set to provide residential facilities for factory employees, totaling 78,000 units, with 58,000 in Tamil Nadu.

Major job creators in Apple’s supplier network in India include Tata Electronics, Salcomp Technologies, Foxlink, and Sunwoda, among others.

Since beginning iPhone production in India in 2017 under the PLI scheme, Apple, through contract manufacturers Foxconn, Wistron, and Pegatron, has been increasing local component production.

These manufacturers have created over 77,000 direct jobs in India, with Foxconn leading the count.

Following Wistron’s acquisition by Tata Group last year, the contract manufacturing sector is poised for further expansion, particularly during the peak production period from June to September.

Apple’s manufacturing output in India has significantly increased, with iPhones worth over Rs 1 lakh crore produced last year, of which Rs 65,000 crore worth were exported.

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