AirPods made in India? Apple's big plans for a global export boom

Tech giant Apple's move into AirPods production follows its booming iPhone manufacturing in India, despite no production-linked incentive scheme for wireless headphones

After shifting billions of dollars worth of iPhone production to India, Apple is now gearing up to make an even bigger move — bringing AirPods manufacturing to the country, with an ambitious eye on global exports. This bold expansion marks another step in Apple’s strategy to position India as a major manufacturing hub outside China, reported The Times of India.

According to sources, Apple will start producing AirPods at two facilities: the casings will be manufactured at American contract manufacturer Jabil’s factory in Pune, while final assembly and production will happen at a new Foxconn unit in Telangana. This operation is set to be on a scale similar to Apple’s iPhone manufacturing efforts in India.

 

“It will be a mega operation, on the lines of the work done for iPhones, and will be focused mainly on global exports, considering that the market for AirPods is much bigger abroad than in India,” a source familiar with the plans revealed.

Apple expands its production ambition

Interestingly, this expansion is happening without the usual incentives. Unlike smartphones, there’s no production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for wireless headphones like AirPods. But Apple’s focus on India remains strong, driven by the success of its iPhone production.

In FY24 alone, Apple is estimated to have exported $14 billion worth of iPhones from the country, which accounts for 14 per cent of the company’s global iPhone output. This rapid scaling up has been supported by major contract manufacturers such as Taiwanese giants Foxconn and Pegatron, and the Tata Group, which recently took over Wistron’s iPhone operations.

The AirPods production is expected to kick off next year, with plans to ramp up output to billions of dollars worth of exports ‘very quickly’, according to sources. Apple also plans to make the AirPods available for sale in India, although the primary focus will remain on international markets.

With this new venture, Apple is positioning India as a second major manufacturing base, after China. “The focus on exports means that Apple will create a second large manufacturing base outside China, which currently is one of the key production centres for most of its products. The plan was the same when the iPhone manufacturing had started,” a source said, according to The Times of India.

The Indian government is welcoming Apple’s commitment, particularly as its premium products contribute significantly to India’s export profile. The influx of key Apple vendors into the country is further solidifying India’s role in the global tech supply chain.

While state governments have offered attractive incentives to secure Apple’s factories, the central government has also played a pivotal role. It has shown flexibility in allowing Apple’s Chinese component suppliers to set up shop in India, despite ongoing tensions with China over border issues and investments.

However, while AirPods are set to join iPhones on the made-in-India list, there’s one product that’s not coming to local assembly lines anytime soon — MacBooks. Despite a strong push from the Indian government for laptop makers to ‘Make in India’ under a lucrative PLI scheme, Apple isn’t in a rush to produce its premium laptops here.

“The MacBooks will take time when it comes to local manufacturing in India. First, the volumes for Apple’s premium notebooks are still limited here, and so the business case is also restricted. Also, with more than sufficient global production levels, creating new factories in India can lead to oversupply. Thus, MacBook production will take time as of now,” one of the sources said.