Foxconn, the Taiwanese contract manufacturer of electronic goods for top global brands, is likely to announce in a week what it will manufacture at its Hyderabad facility.
“We got to know that they are planning six to seven products at their new facilities. These might be split between Hyderabad and Bengaluru,” a source in the government said, refusing to comment on whether Foxconn would make AirPods at the Hyderabad facility. “We don’t know yet what they are going to manufacture here,” he said.
Foxconn confirmed it would invest at Kongarkalan near Hyderabad, refuting rumours that it might choose Bengaluru instead.
“They have confirmed their investments here. They said they will get back to us on their further plans in a week,” he said.
Another source, who is tracking the development closely, hinted that the company may manufacture Apple products (phones and AirPods) at its Bengaluru facility.
“What we hear is, the company is going to start its operations in May 2023 by beginning construction work at Kongarkalan,” he said.
Also read: Apple supplier Foxconn plans to quadruple workforce at India plant: Sources
AirPod buzz
News agency Reuters reported that Foxconn plans to build a factory in India to produce AirPods for Apple, amid reports that the US phone maker is diversifying its production away from China.
Quoting sources, Reuters said the firm would invest over $200 million to set up an AirPod manufacturing facility in Telangana.
A top State Government official, however, declined to comment on this. “We don’t have any information, as of now, on what Foxconn is going to manufacture in Telangana,” he said.
Foxconn Technology Group Chairman Young Liu held back-to-back meetings with the chief ministers of Telangana and Karnataka, K Chandrashekar Rao and Basavaraj Bommai, respectively, in the first week of March. Both governments claimed that the Taiwanese company had chosen it for its factory. Liu’s meeting with Bommai a day after he met Rao had triggered speculation over whether the company was looking at Bengaluru over Hyderabad.
Putting all speculation to rest, Liu wrote to the Telangana Chief Minister to assert the company’s commitment to invest in the State.