Apple wants batteries for its latest generation of iPhones to be made in India, as part of the US tech giant’s efforts to diversify its global supply chain and shift manufacturing out of China.
The world’s most valuable company has told component suppliers that it prefers to source batteries for the upcoming iPhone 16 from Indian factories, according to two people close to Apple.
Battery makers such as China’s Desay have been encouraged to set up new factories in India, while Simplo Technology, a Taiwanese battery supplier to Apple, has been asked to ramp up production in India for future orders, said three people familiar with the situation.
“If all goes well with the iPhone 16 battery supply, Apple is planning to shift more iPhone battery production to India,” said one of the people close to the company.
Separately, an Indian government minister said this week that TDK, a Japanese supplier to Apple, is setting up a 180-acre facility in Manesar in the state of Haryana to make battery cells for use in Indian-made iPhones. In a post on X, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, minister of state for electronics and IT, congratulated Apple, TDK and local officials for enabling the government’s “goal of deepening the electronics manufacturing ecosystem in India”.
Companies such as Desay and Simplo package the cells produced by TDK and its partners into modules and send them to assemblers such as Foxconn.
Apple has been trying to wean itself off years of reliance on China for its manufacturing and supply chains amid growing trade tensions between Washington and Beijing.
In recent months, the iPhone maker has been steadily ramping up production in Vietnam and India, but has struggled to replicate the scale, speed and, in some cases, quality of its Chinese operations.
The latest push to source batteries outside of China is in line with the Narendra Modi government’s “Make in India” manufacturing push, which offers incentives to companies willing to invest in mobile phones, batteries and other targeted sectors.
Apple made its latest iPhone 15 in both India and China at plants run by Taiwanese contract manufacturers Foxconn, Pegatron and Wistron, which is selling its mobile phone plant outside Bengaluru to India’s Tata.
Foxconn, Apple’s largest supplier, plans to invest more than $1.5 billion in a new manufacturing facility in India, according to a recent company announcement.
