His comments followed reports of Foxconn pulling more than 300 Chinese engineers and technicians from its Indian production facilities on Wednesday. The development comes as Apple’s largest contract manufacturer moves ahead with ramping up production in the country, especially iPhones.
Kuo noted that there were not many Chinese employees at the company’s India iPhone facilities. Production capabilities at Foxconn’s India iPhone facilities were established by the company’s Taiwanese employees, like those from FIH’s Minsheng plant, not Chinese employees, he said.
The gradual return of Chinese employees was in the works for some time, and Apple was fully informed, the analyst stated.
Even amid US tariff threat over iPhones, Foxconn has not slowed down its expansion in India. In May, the company invested $2.56 billion in its Devanahalli plant, with a production target of 100,000 iPhones by December. The facility will prioritise housing for its predominantly female workforce, with dorms accommodating 30,000 employees.
ET reported last month that Foxconn is setting up a new unit within the ESR Industrial Park at Oragadam in Tamil Nadu specifically to make iPhone enclosures, a segment which only had Tata Electronics as a player in India so far.
Foxconn also has a new unit in Hyderabad that is assembling AirPods.
Also Read: Meet the firms taking a big bite of Apple’s India manufacturing pie
During March-May, Foxconn exported iPhones worth $3.2 billion from India, with an average 97% shipped to the US, Reuters reported on June 13, citing customs data. India iPhone shipments by Foxconn to the United States in May 2025 were worth nearly $1 billion, the second-highest ever after the record $1.3 billion worth of devices shipped in March, the data showed.
US President Donald Trump has been averse to Apple’s foray into India and even threatened a 25% tariff on phones sold in the US not made in the country.
In April, the Indian government approved a semiconductor plant to be built by the Taiwanese manufacturer in joint venture with the HCL Group in Uttar Pradesh’s Jewar with an investment of Rs 3,700 crore.
