India-Made Chips Likely To Power Apple iPhones As Micron's Gujarat Facility Set To Commence Production This Year

Micron Technology, a leading global company in the memory and storage sector, is exploring the possibility of supplying made in India chips to Apple from its upcoming facility in Gujarat.

This development comes as Apple's vendors currently assemble iPhones in India but rely on imported chips.

Micron's Gujarat facility, located in Sanand, will engage in assembly, test, marking, and packaging (ATMP) of chips.

The Sanand plant, which is Micron’s first such venture in India, is expected to commence operations by December, with the first batch of India-made chips expected to be rolled out at that time.

While the wafers will be imported from Micron's plants in other parts of the world, they will be processed into chips at the India plant, Business Standard reported citing sources.

However, a final deal hinges on Apple agreeing to the plan.

Although the chips will be exported ini- tially in the first phase, Micron is planning to supply them directly to its global clients in the next phase to manufacturing or assembly facilities in India and Apple is one of them; Apple's three vendors assem- ble iPhones in the country and, in fact, 12 per cent of total iPhone production is assembled in India.

In the initial phase, the chips will be exported, but Micron reportedly has plans in place for future phases to supply directly to its global clients, including Apple, from manufacturing or assembly facilities within India.

Currently, about 12 percent of Apple's total iPhone production is assembled in India.

Micron has facilities for ATMP and wafers in various locations, including the US, Malaysia, Japan, Singapore, China, and Taiwan.

The use of Made in India chips will go a long way in Apple's drive for value addition here, which is currently pegged at only 10-12 per cent.

This strategic move aligns with the government's ambition under its production-linked incentive scheme, which aims for mobile phones manufactured under the scheme to achieve 40 percent value addition by the end of fiscal year 2026.

Micron was the first big global company to be cleared under the government's semiconductor scheme. It is investing $2.75 billion to build its ATMP plant at Sanand.

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