iPhone Pulls Back from China... 'Foxconn vs Tata' Supply Chain Battle Scenario

Foxconn Replaces Head of iPhone Business

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo Yoo-jin] Taiwan's Foxconn, Apple's largest partner, has abruptly replaced the head of its iPhone business. This move is interpreted as a dismissal due to production disruptions at the largest iPhone manufacturing base in China, as well as a strategic move considering the battle for dominance in the Indian market, where the iPhone supply chain is shifting.

According to major foreign media, Foxconn recently appointed Michael Chiang as the head of the iPhone business division. Chiang will take over from Wang Changyang and lead Foxconn's iPhone business starting this year.

U.S. Bloomberg News reported on the 17th (local time) that Foxconn internally shared this plan at its year-end party last year. The news agency interpreted, "Liu Yangwei, chairman of Foxconn's parent company Hon Hai Precision Industry, carried out a generational change in personnel to revamp the organization amid intensified market competition and the task of supply chain restructuring."

The Foxconn factory in Zhengzhou, Henan Province, China, the largest Apple iPhone production base, experienced production disruptions last year due to a surge in COVID-19 cases, government lockdown policies, labor disputes over treatment dissatisfaction, and mass employee departures, which severely impacted Apple's sales due to supply shortages.

Because of this, there are interpretations inside and outside the company that this personnel change is a dismissal due to failure in crisis management. An insider familiar with the matter said, "The former division head Wang Changyang will remain on Foxconn's board of directors, and this replacement is unrelated to Foxconn's production halt incident."

As Apple accelerates its?(탈) China strategy, the Indian market, chosen as an alternative site, is emerging as a new battleground for the iPhone supply chain, leading to forecasts of a 'bloody battle' in India.

Foxconn is expanding its production facilities in India as part of Apple's policy to move production out of China, while the Indian conglomerate Tata Group is newly entering the market, setting the stage for a head-to-head competition between the two companies. Foxconn is the largest Apple partner by production scale among single companies, and Tata Group is India's largest company, with interests spanning steel, automobiles, chemicals, electronics, broadcasting, telecommunications, and finance.

According to Bloomberg News, Tata Group is close to signing a contract to acquire a factory in southern India to enter iPhone contract manufacturing. Citing multiple sources familiar with the negotiations, the news agency reported that Tata has been negotiating for months to acquire the factory from Taiwan's iPhone assembler Wistron, aiming to finalize the purchase contract by the end of March after due diligence.

The factory Tata is seeking to acquire is near Bangalore in southern India, where it plans to take over all eight iPhone production lines and assume employment of 10,000 workers. The factory, covering approximately 200,000 square meters, is estimated to be valued at over $600 million (about 746.4 billion KRW).

If this factory acquisition contract is completed, Tata will become the first Indian company to produce iPhones. In India, three Taiwanese companies?Wistron, Foxconn, and Pegatron?currently manufacture iPhones. If Wistron completely withdraws from the iPhone supply chain by selling this factory, competition between Tata and Foxconn is expected to intensify.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.