Key Apple Supplier Foxconn To Invest $600 Million In Karnataka For iPhone Components, Chip-Making Equipment

Taiwan's Foxconn will invest in the Southern Indian state of Karnataka for chip equipment manufacturing and casing components for iPhones.

Key Apple iPhone supplier and the world's biggest contract manufacturer Foxconn is set to invest $600 million, or roughly Rs 4,955 crore in India, said a report by news agency Reuters on Wednesday. Taiwan's Foxconn will invest in the Southern Indian state of Karnataka for chip equipment manufacturing and casing components for iPhones. Foxconn's investment is expected to generate roughly 12,000 jobs. Some $350 million, or roughly Rs 2,890 crore will go towards setting up the Apple iPhone component facility, while Foxconn will tie up with Applied Materials in a $250 million, or roughly Rs 2,064 crore project to make chip-making tools, the report added.

This comes within a week of Foxconn's subsidiary, Foxconn Industrial Internet (FII), announcing that it is mulling to invest Rs 1,600 crore to set up a campus in Tamil Nadu's Kancheepuram district, near state capital Chennai. This investment is likely to create 6,000 jobs. This manufacturing unit in Tamil Nadu will be separate from the current sprawling campus near Chennai where Foxconn assembles iPhone models and employs more than 35,000 people, the report added. Foxconn and a spokesperson for Tamil Nadu's industries department declined to comment, as per the report.

Foxconn has recently announced a number of investments in India.

The iPhone contract manufacturer is also in talks with chip-making giant Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) and Japan's TMH Group for a joint venture (JV) technology partnership to set up semiconductor fab units in India, said a recent report by The Economic Times (ET), citing people aware of the matter.

As per the report, Foxconn is likely to finalise the details of the partnership to manufacture both advanced and legacy node chips soon. The company has been in discussions with TSMC and TMH Group for a considerable period. Taiwan's TSMC is one of the largest chip foundries globally, while TMH specialises in offering semiconductor-related solutions and the operation and maintenance of manufacturing equipment. TSMC's chips are widely utilised by numerous prominent semiconductor companies, including AMD, Apple, ARM, Broadcom, Marvell, MediaTek, and Nvidia.