Pegatron, one of Apple's manufacturing partners, has reportedly begun building iPhone 14 handsets in India.
The news comes amid ongoing Chinese tensions as well as a new lockdown that has seen the world's biggest iPhone factory impacted by COVID-19 this week.
Apple has long been reported to want to move some manufacturing capacity beyond Chinese borders in an attempt to reduce its over-reliance on the country. The COVID-19 pandemic showed how much Apple needed Chinese manufacturing, with lockdowns across the country impacting its ability to put iPhones and other products onto store shelves.
Now, Bloomberg reports that Pegatron has begun iPhone manufacturing in India. The company is the second to start building the iPhone 14 in the country.
Diversification
Foxconn has already been building iPhone 14 models in India for a couple of months now, but the majority of iPhones are still built by its Chinese facilities. The Zhengzhou plant is the biggest source of iPhones on the planet and Foxconn maintains that production is on track despite the recent COVID-19 activity in the area.
While Apple may have Foxconn and Pegatron assembling devices in India, most of the components they use are actually built in China. The iPhone 14 Pro is also exclusively assembled by Foxconn in China and it's the Pro devices whose supply remains the most constricted today — six weeks after the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max first went on sale.
It isn't just iPhones that have proven difficult to get into the hands of anyone who wants to buy them, though. Apple's recently-released Apple Watch Ultra is also difficult to pick up, too. It's the best Apple Watch the company has ever made, thanks to a new rugged design, larger 49mm display, and lightweight construction.
