Apple’s expansion into India just got slapped in the face. Foxconn, the assembly giant Apple depends on, recalled around 300 Chinese engineers from a factory in southern Tamil Nadu.
That plant belongs to Yuzhan Technology, one of Foxconn’s component arms. This wasn’t some random recall. It’s the second one in just a few months.
Foxconn didn’t give a reason. Apple said nothing. But people who know the situation told reporters that Taiwanese engineers are being flown in fast to take over from the departing Chinese workers.
Those workers weren’t janitors. They were handling high-precision parts like metal enclosures and display modules for older iPhones. The whole thing throws Apple’s localization plans into chaos.
Foxconn quietly pulls engineers out of Tamil Nadu
The Yuzhan plant had only just started running a few months back. It’s not even making parts for the new iPhone 17s yet. That’s the line Apple is betting big on. But instead of ramping up, it’s losing skilled workers.
Bloomberg said last month Foxconn was already pulling Chinese engineers from iPhone assembly lines in India. This new recall just adds more weight to what’s clearly becoming a trend.
Sources say the recall is tied to China’s silent resistance to losing manufacturing power. Earlier this year, Beijing officials verbally told regulators to block tech and equipment exports to India and Southeast Asia. No official memo. No public statement. Just quiet orders aimed at stopping companies like Foxconn from shifting supply chains out of China.
It’s not confirmed if Beijing directly forced the recall. But the timing is loud enough. Foxconn’s move shows how much power Chinese technicians still have in the iPhone supply chain. The moment they’re gone, production stutters.
Foxconn and Apple didn’t answer questions from journalists. Meanwhile, The Economic Times reported Yuzhan’s Chinese staff had started leaving, which now seems completely accurate.
Apple, for now, is importing more display modules and using local Indian suppliers for enclosures. But the gap in experience and training is still real. Apple’s Indian partners, especially Tata Group, the only domestic iPhone assembler, are growing fast. But they’re still climbing a steep learning curve. Chinese factories have had twenty years to perfect iPhone assembly. India is barely five years in.
Apple made a deliberate call to exclude Chinese suppliers from its India move. But that choice is being tested now. Without those engineers, speed and quality might take a hit.
On the bigger geopolitical front, India and China are talking. Beijing has offered to supply rare earths and tunnel-boring equipment, but there’s been zero follow-through so far. If relations thaw, it could make Apple’s life easier. But don’t count on it yet.
Apple’s plan to go all-in on India just got complicated.
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Source: https://www.cryptopolitan.com/apples-india-plans-hit-snag/