The new unit in the state of Telangana is expected to create 25,000 new jobs, the state’s IT minister KT Rama Rao said via a tweet. Credit: Michael Kan Apple’s largest contract manufacturer, Foxconn, has committed to investing $500 million in setting up a new manufacturing unit in the Indian state of Telangana. “Demonstrating the ‘Telangana Speed’, I am happy to announce the groundbreaking of first of Foxconn’s plants in Telangana at Kongar Kalaan today. With an investment of over $500M it shall create 25,000 direct jobs in first Phase,” Telangana’s IT minister KT Rama Rao said in a tweet. Foxconn — also known as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. in China as well as in its home base of Taiwan — is expected to manufacture Apple products, most likely Airpods, in the new facility as Apple looks to shift some of its manufacturing from China. In January, India’s trade minister Piyush Goyal said Apple was looking to increase its share of manufacturing in India to 25% from 5-7%, according to a Reuters report. This was followed by another Reuters report in March that claimed Foxconn won a significant manufacturing order for AirPods from Apple and was planning to set up an assembly unit in Telangana with a commitment of over $200 million. Foxconn’s decision to open a new manufacturing unit in Telangana comes when the world faces global supply chain challenges due to ongoing trade wars between China and the US. The past few months have seen tensions between the US and China escalate, especially in chip manufacturing, leaving several chip makers and enterprises in the crosshairs. Apple has been trying to move out most of its manufacturing out of China by shifting its supply chain to India, in an effort to avoid being in the middle of the tension between the economic superpowers. Last week, US networking giant Cisco Systems announced a manufacturing plant in India to broaden its global supply chain. Cisco’s choice of India can be seen as a replacement for China, analysts said. In March, Foxconn received approval from India’s state of Karnataka to invest nearly $968 million. Related content news analysis Within two years, 90% of organizations will suffer a critical tech skills shortage Along with AI skills, skills in IT ops and cloud development are severely lacking, IDC reports. By Lucas Mearian May 31, 2024 7 mins Generative AI IT Jobs IT Skills news analysis Google partners with Magic Leap on mixed reality development The Magic Leap collaboration follows Google’s partnership to develop mixed reality devices with Samsung last year. By Matthew Finnegan May 31, 2024 3 mins Augmented Reality Virtual Reality Emerging Technology how-to Microsoft OneDrive cheat sheet: Using OneDrive in Windows If you have Windows 10 or 11, you have OneDrive. With this quick guide, you can learn how to sync, back up, and share files in OneDrive with built-in Windows tools. By Howard Wen May 31, 2024 15 mins OneDrive Cloud Storage Windows analysis Apple's mutating supply chain sees winners and losers Shifting manufacturing centers are generating fresh challenges. By Jonny Evans May 31, 2024 5 mins iPhone Manufacturing Industry Apple Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe