【Text by Observers Network, Juan Jiaqi】

On July 2 local time, U.S. media Bloomberg quoted sources saying that Foxconn, the largest iPhone assembler for Apple Inc., has asked hundreds of Chinese engineers and technical personnel to return to China from its iPhone factory in southern India. The specific reason is still unknown.

According to the source, this action started about two months ago, and more than 300 mainland Chinese employees have already left. Currently, those remaining in India are mainly support staff from Taiwan, China. The report said that Apple's representative declined to comment on this, and Foxconn also did not respond to an email request for comment.

U.S. media mentioned that Apple CEO Tim Cook once praised the professional skills of Chinese assembly workers and emphasized that this was a key reason for Apple to establish its main production base in China, rather than just due to cost advantages.

At the same time, to accelerate expansion, Foxconn has deployed a large number of experienced Chinese engineers in India, who play a key role in training Indian Foxconn employees. India began mass assembling iPhones four years ago, and now it accounts for one-fifth of global production. This withdrawal of Chinese employees will affect Apple's manufacturing expansion plans in South Asia.

The aforementioned source stated that the withdrawal of Chinese employees will delay the training process of Indian local employees and the transfer of Chinese manufacturing technology, possibly leading to an increase in production costs. In addition, although this will not affect the production quality of the Indian factory, it may reduce the efficiency of the assembly line.

The person also revealed that the Indian government is aware that Foxconn is recalling Chinese employees, but does not know the specific reason. At present, the production of iPhones in India has not been significantly affected.

On September 9, 2024, in California, USA, the 2024 Apple autumn product launch event was held. The iPhone 16 series was unveiled. IC photo

Bloomberg reported that this change comes at a bad time for Apple. Because the company is preparing to work with its Indian manufacturing partners to expand the capacity of the new iPhone 17, and Foxconn is also building a new iPhone factory in southern India.

Apple plans to produce most of the iPhones for the U.S. market in India by the end of 2026, but this move has been repeatedly criticized by U.S. President Trump. In May, Trump once again issued a threat, demanding that the company manufacture iPhones within the United States, otherwise it would be subject to at least a 25% tariff.

However, the high labor costs in the United States make it unfeasible to produce iPhones there. A May analysis by the Morgan Stanley US Public Policy team showed that Trump might have the legal authority to increase tariffs on foreign-made iPhones, but this would not change Apple's overseas production strategy.

The New York Times previously reported that although Apple has accelerated the production of iPhones in India, it still assembles most of the complex components of iPhones in China, including screens and face recognition modules. These components are transported to India after a process called "pre-assembly" and then assembled into an iPhone there. Therefore, the final product can claim to be assembled in India, but in fact, most of the work is done in China.

Notably, at this critical moment, recently, Patrick McGee, a business journalist from the Financial Times based in San Francisco, in his new book, traced Apple's entry into the Chinese market since the 1990s, made the distorted view that Apple is "trapped in China," and promoted the arrogant conclusion that "without Apple, China would not be China today."

According to Hong Kong media South China Morning Post, on Wednesday, at an event hosted by the Washington-based think tank Center for Strategic and International Studies, this view was opposed by many Chinese studies experts.

"If everything could be redone, would they make different choices?" Harvard Business School professor Meg Rithmere believes the answer is likely no. She continued, "China is experiencing a huge wave of innovation and production, missing this opportunity, Apple would not be what it is today."

Rithmere also pointed out that even without American companies like Apple and Tesla, Chinese companies "may" be able to catch up with American companies, and the current Sino-US business relationship is not only beneficial to China.

She said, "American companies want to stay in the Chinese market, not only for revenue and labor, but this is actually to learn and understand their competitors' moves."

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Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7522658091729551923/

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