Taiwanese contract manufacturer Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團) internationally, has won an order to make AirPods for Apple Inc and plans to build a factory in India to produce the wireless earphones, two people with direct knowledge of the matter said.
The deal would see Hon Hai, the world’s largest contract electronics maker and assembler of about 70 percent of all iPhones, become an AirPod supplier for the first time, and underlines efforts by the key Apple supplier to diversify production away from China.
AirPods are currently made by a range of Chinese suppliers.
Photo: REUTERS
Hon Hai would invest more than US$200 million in the new India AirPod plant in the southern state of Telangana, one source said, requesting anonymity as the matter is not public.
It was not immediately clear how much the AirPod order would be worth.
Hon Hai officials debated internally for months about whether to assemble AirPods due to relatively lower profit margins on making the device, but they opted to go ahead with the deal to “reinforce engagement” with Apple, the person said.
“That way, we are more likely to get orders for their new products,” the person added.
The decision to set up production in India was requested by Apple, the source said.
A subsidiary, Foxconn Interconnect Technology Ltd (鴻騰精密), plans to start construction of a manufacturing facility in Telangana in the second half of this year and begin production by the end of next year at the earliest, the person said.
The subsidiary would make AirPods in India, a second source said, without providing further details.
Analysts have previously said Apple has asked suppliers including Hon Hai to make AirPods in India, but details such as the size of investment, timeline and which suppliers have manufacturing plans in the country have not been disclosed.
Hon Hai declined to comment. Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
DIVIDED VIEWS: Although the Fed agreed on holding rates steady, some officials see no rate cuts for this year, while 10 policymakers foresee two or more cuts There are a lot of unknowns about the outlook for the economy and interest rates, but US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell signaled at least one thing seems certain: Higher prices are coming. Fed policymakers voted unanimously to hold interest rates steady at a range of 4.25 percent to 4.50 percent for a fourth straight meeting on Wednesday, as they await clarity on whether tariffs would leave a one-time or more lasting mark on inflation. Powell said it is still unclear how much of the bill would fall on the shoulders of consumers, but he expects to learn more about tariffs
NOT JUSTIFIED: The bank’s governor said there would only be a rate cut if inflation falls below 1.5% and economic conditions deteriorate, which have not been detected The central bank yesterday kept its key interest rates unchanged for a fifth consecutive quarter, aligning with market expectations, while slightly lowering its inflation outlook amid signs of cooling price pressures. The move came after the US Federal Reserve held rates steady overnight, despite pressure from US President Donald Trump to cut borrowing costs. Central bank board members unanimously voted to maintain the discount rate at 2 percent, the secured loan rate at 2.375 percent and the overnight lending rate at 4.25 percent. “We consider the policy decision appropriate, although it suggests tightening leaning after factoring in slackening inflation and stable GDP growth,”
Meta Platforms Inc offered US$100 million bonuses to OpenAI employees in an unsuccessful bid to poach the ChatGPT maker’s talent and strengthen its own generative artificial intelligence (AI) teams, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has said. Facebook’s parent company — a competitor of OpenAI — also offered “giant” annual salaries exceeding US$100 million to OpenAI staffers, Altman said in an interview on the Uncapped with Jack Altman podcast released on Tuesday. “It is crazy,” Sam Altman told his brother Jack in the interview. “I’m really happy that at least so far none of our best people have decided to take them
PLANS: MSI is also planning to upgrade its service center in the Netherlands Micro-Star International Co (MSI, 微星) yesterday said it plans to set up a server assembly line at its Poland service center this year at the earliest. The computer and peripherals manufacturer expects that the new server assembly line would shorten transportation times in shipments to European countries, a company spokesperson told the Taipei Times by telephone. MSI manufactures motherboards, graphics cards, notebook computers, servers, optical storage devices and communication devices. The company operates plants in Taiwan and China, and runs a global network of service centers. The company is also considering upgrading its service center in the Netherlands into a