From Reuters’ “Apple lobbies for India incentives as it plans iPad assembly: sources” posted Thursday:
Apple Inc is angling to participate in a new scheme to boost India’s exports of computer products, part of what government and industry sources say are plans to bring iPad tablet manufacturing to the South Asian country.
India launched a $6.7 billion plan to boost smartphone exports last year, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi stepped up efforts to promote electronics manufacturing and create jobs…
Apple assembles a bulk of its iPads in China, but is fast diversifying production to markets such as India and Vietnam to minimize the impact of the U.S.-China trade war and the coronavirus crisis.
Its top supplier Foxconn is building assembly lines for iPads and MacBook laptops in Vietnam, Reuters reported late last year. Other iPad assemblers include Taiwan’s Compal Electronics and China’s BYD Electronic International.
In India, Apple will likely have iPad’s assembled by one of its existing suppliers in the country as early as this year, two of the sources said, though its plans could get delayed as India makes the entry of BYD difficult amid its wariness to give new tech business to Chinese companies.
“The government is asking Apple to get iPads assembled by its contract manufacturers here, the non-Chinese companies” one of the sources, a government official said.
My take: Doing business in India is tricky, I hear. Someone’s always getting shaken down.
BTW, BYD’s had a good year….
I think the notion of ‘a struggle for economic systems’ is accurate. It’s more than just competing economic systems, but also of political systems. State-supervised capitalism (money in exchange for ‘correct behavior’ on the part of the citizens) vs ‘anything goes’.
“State-supervised capitalism (money in exchange for ‘correct behavior’ on the part of the citizens) vs ‘anything goes’.”
When both interests dance to the money piper, don’t they become one in the same?
Much like the United States, no?
India & China have been regional competitors since WWII, in terms of political, military, and business/economy/commerce influence. The 1962 Sino-Indian War is not forgotten & causes of that remain unresolved to this day, especially in contested land on their borders. This could be one of many factors why their govt does not want Chinese companies running Apple’s factories in India.
New Apple phones are too expensive but the aftermarket for iPhones is intense. IP protection is improving too, except medicines.