Apple is undertaking a potentially significant shift in its smartphone supply chain. The Wall Street Journal reports that the consumer-electronics heavyweight is preparing to manufacture its new iPhone in India months earlier than it did previous models.
The decision is a sign the company is boosting production outside its traditional base of China, where COVID-related shutdowns and geopolitical tensions have raised risks for foreign businesses.
Any shift in manufacturing will reverberate across supply chains because of the outsize impact that Apple’s high-value finished goods and components have on suppliers and transportation networks.
The shift comes after Apple told some of its contract manufacturers that it wanted to boost production outside China amid growing global tensions and supply chain disruptions in the country.
India has in recent years pushed to get global firms to switch high-end manufacturing from China to India as global trade tensions have flared.
