In push to diversify from China, Apple asks suppliers to move AirPods, Beats production to India

Apple suppliers have been directed by the company to move some AirPods and Beats headphone production to India for the first time, Nikkei Asia reported. iPhone assembler Foxconn is reportedly preparing to make Beats headphones in the South Asian country, and hopes to eventually produce AirPods there as well, two people with direct knowledge of the matter said.

Apple has been trying to gradually branch out of China in an attempt to lower the risk of supply chain disruptions stemming from the country's strict zero-COVID policy and tensions with the US.

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The company has been in talks with several of its suppliers over increasing production in India as early as next year, three people familiar with the matter told Nikkei Asia.

Luxshare Precision Industry and its affiliates, which already produce AirPods in Vietnam and China, also plant to move production of the wireless earphones to India, sources said. However, Luxshare will focus on its Vietnamese AirPods operations for now and its move to India could be slower than its competitors.

AirPods production shifted to Vietnam in 2019 due to the fallout of US-China trade war. Over 70 million units of the product are shipped each year, second only to the iPhone among Apple products in terms of shipment volume. The majority of Beats production has also shifted to Vietnam since last year, sources told Nikkei Asia.

The latest iPhone is already being made in India, along with some older iPhone models that are being made in the country since 2017 by a smaller supplier, Wistron. Initially, Apple's move to India was being looked at as a way to serve the massive local market. But now it is looking at the country as a strategic production base, with exports intended for markets such as Europe, sources briefed on the matter said.

(With inputs from agencies)