Apple is asking its suppliers to shift some of its production of AirPods and Beats headphones to India, furthering their bid to reduce manufacturing reliance on China.
This comes after a year of disruption caused by the country’s strict zero-COVID policy, as well as rising political tensions with the US.
Apple has also shored up iPhone 14 production, starting manufacturing in India just three weeks after launch.
Moving some of the iPhone 14 production to India was always on the cards, but Apple bumped the start date up two months “after resolving supply chain issues, which helped production go smoother than expected”, according to an insider at Foxconn, Apple’s production partner.
Foxconn will now also make Beats headphones and AirPods in India, according to Nikkei Asia, who cite “two people with direct knowledge of the matter said.”
Luxshare will also produce AirPods in India, after moving the bulk of its AirPod operations to Vietnam in 2019.
Most Beats production has also shifted to Vietnam since last year, sources told Nikkei Asia.
