Foxconn pulls more Chinese engineers out of India as Apple ramps up iPhone 17

Apple supplier Foxconn Technology Group has recalled about 300 Chinese engineers from a factory in Tamil Nadu, marking the second such move in recent months and raising fresh questions about the pace of Apple’s expansion in India, Bloomberg reported on Sunday.  

The engineers worked at Yuzhan Technology, a Foxconn unit that manufactures enclosures and display modules for older iPhone models. The staff have now been sent back to China, and Foxconn has begun flying in Taiwanese engineers to replace them, the report said.  

It remains unclear why the staff were sent home. Earlier this year, Foxconn had reportedly asked hundreds of Chinese engineers and technicians to return home from its iPhone factories in India.  

Beijing had also verbally encouraged regulators and local governments to curb technology transfers and equipment exports to India and Southeast Asia, Bloomberg said, in a possible bid to slow the migration of manufacturing away from China.  

The Yuzhan plant only began production a few months ago and is not yet working on Apple’s latest iPhone 17 line. Apple continues to import most of its displays, though it may lean on other Indian suppliers to make up for the staff withdrawal.  

Apple has so far chosen not to bring significant Chinese partners into India, instead building local supply chains with firms such as Tata Group’s electronics arm, which has become the only Indian iPhone assembler. While Chinese suppliers have built iPhones for nearly two decades, Indian suppliers sometimes still go through teething problems, the report said.   

Apple is set to produce all four iPhone 17 models in India ahead of their launch next month, the first time every new model — including pro-level versions — will ship from the country at launch.