Foxconn has asked the Chinese engineers and technicians working at its iPhone manufacturing plant in Chennai to return home, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday.
Citing a person familiar with the matter, Bloomberg said that the bulk of Foxconn’s Chinese staff have been told to fly back and that the move had started about two months ago. More than 300 Chinese workers have already left, and mostly support staff from Taiwan remain in India, one of the people added.
According to the Bloomberg report, Foxconn has also informed the Indian government about its move of withdrawing its Chinese staff.
Earlier in the year, a Reuters report had stated that Apple aims to make most of its iPhones sold in the United States at factories in India by the end of 2026. Nearly all the iPhones exported by Foxconn from India went to the United States between March and May, customs data showed, far above the 2024 average of 50 per cent.
During March-May, Foxconn exported iPhones worth $3.2 billion from India, with an average 97 per cent shipped to the United States, compared to a 2024 average of 50.3 per cent, according to commercially available customs data seen by Reuters.
In the first five months of this year, Foxconn has already sent iPhones worth $4.4 billion to the US from India, compared to $3.7 billion in the whole of 2024.
India iPhone shipments by Foxconn to the United States in May 2025 were worth nearly $1 billion, the second-highest ever after the record $1.3 billion worth of devices shipped in March, the data showed.
Story continues below this ad
Foxconn’s push to produce iPhones in India came after Prime Minister Narendra Modi promoted India as a smartphone manufacturing hub.
© IE Online Media Services Pvt Ltd