iPhone maker Foxconn to invest $1.6 bn in India

Taiwan-based iPhone maker Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., which is known as Foxconn, is planning to invest around $1.6 billion in India.

The investment, which will be done via Foxconn subsidiary Hon Hai Technology India Mega Development, is for "operational needs", the company says via an exchange filing, without divulging more details. It also added that a “supplemental announcement” will be made after the transaction is confirmed.

Foxconn makes iPhones for the U..S tech major Apple. Its India investment so far stands at around $8 billion, with a workforce of 40,000 workers. The company plans to double employment, foreign direct investment (FDI), and business size in India by 2024, according to its India representative V Lee.

Lee had disclosed these plans in a LinkedIn post, while wishing Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his birthday in September 2023. "Under your leadership, Foxconn has grown smoothly and rapidly in India. We will work even harder to present you with a greater birthday gift next year, aiming for another doubling of employment, FDI, and business size in India," the post read.

In May, Foxconn's India subsidiary acquired a 300-acre land parcel on the outskirts of India's tech capital Bengaluru to ramp up production of iPhones. The Karnataka government had earlier approved ₹8,000-crore proposal by the Taiwanese electronics giant to set up a mobile phone manufacturing unit near Bengaluru.

Two other Taiwanese companies, Wistron and Pegatron, assemble Apple iPhones in India. Wistron manufactures Apple devices at its Hosur facility in Krishnagiri district of Tamil Nadu.

Foxconn had parted ways with homegrown mining giant Vedanta earlier this year after forming a semiconductor joint venture in 2022. The company is now working toward submitting an application related to the government's Modified Programme for Semiconductors and Display Fab Ecosystem. "There was recognition from both sides that the project was not moving fast enough," the company had cited as the reason for the collapse of the deal.

The company had said building fabs from scratch in a new geography was a challenge. "We have been working on challenges like this since the 1980s. Foxconn has no intention to do anything but continue to strongly support the government’s “Make In India” ambitions and establish a diversity of local partnerships that meet the needs of stakeholders," it said.

Foxconn's revenue reached NT$1.5432 trillion, and gross profit margin increased to 6.66% in the third quarter of 2023, as key profit margins improved across the board. Its gross profit margin hit a quarterly record high not seen since 2017, while the net profit was NT$43.1 billion, a sequential growth of 31% and an annual growth of 11%.

In its outlook, the company says: "Looking ahead to next year, the company believes that it needs to observe factors such as monetary policy, inflation, and the political and economic situation; currently the company’s holds a neutral view for 2024."