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pdinc t1_ja5z57m wrote

Ballsy move, given some of the issues Apple's been facing. It should get better over time but there's massive cultural & regulatory issues to solve for beyond just the labor skilling and operational efficiency issues.

Excerpts:

>At a casings factory in Hosur run by Indian conglomerate Tata, one of Apple’s suppliers, just about one out of every two components coming off the production line is in good enough shape to eventually be sent to Foxconn, Apple’s assembly partner for building iPhones, according to a person familiar with the matter.
This 50 per cent “yield” fares badly compared with Apple’s goal for zero defects. Two people that have worked in Apple’s offshore operations said the factory is on a plan towards improving proficiency but the road ahead is long.

>
>In China, suppliers and government officials took a “whatever it takes” approach to win iPhone orders. Former Apple employees describe instances in which they would estimate a certain task might take several weeks, only to show up the next morning to find it already completed at inexplicable speed.
Operations in India are not running at that sort of pace, said a former Apple engineer briefed on the matter: “There just isn’t a sense of urgency.”
A person involved in Apple operations said the process of expanding to India is slow in part because of logistics, tariffs and infrastructure. This person said Apple’s diversification into south-east Asia has been smoother thanks to the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, a free trade agreement among 10 regional nations.

​

>Wadhwa acknowledged that the fragmented, bureaucratic government in India was something Apple would need to adapt to. He suggested its engineers learn the art of jugaad — a way of “making do” or transcending obstacles. “Because everything in India is an obstacle,” he said.

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Mahameghabahana OP t1_ja707jj wrote

That's happens when you shift you manufacturing plant to another country which may lack skilled labour to make those components. Given time it would solve. Samsung though already manufacture many things in india so won't face such problem.

It's not really a gatcha as you might expect.

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pdinc t1_ja7394d wrote

I agree the skilled labor issue would solve over time, but choosing to manufacture their most complex flagship product is what is ballsy here, when Apple is struggling on even making their lower end and simpler products in India.

Its relatively common to manufacture the latest product in country A and migrate production of that product to lower cost countries over time. For example, Gillette has always done that with their razors. But setting up your flagship manufacturing in a new country which doesnt have the needed infrastructure is a supremely risky move.

And as I mentioned - beside the labor issue, there is also the cultural issue. It's telling that Vivek Wadhwa is saying the solution is for Apple to learn "jugaad"; when the choice is developing a new set of jugaadu skills in India vs. setting up manufacturing in other SE Asian countries, the appeal of Indian manufacturing diminishes.

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aminy23 t1_ja76eiu wrote

Apparently Samsung has quite a history in India:

> Samsung has been manufacturing mobile phones in India since 2007, and is the only brand that is truly made in India. Samsung India has been populating Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs) right from its inception.

> India will tally in 29% of Samsung's total global smartphone production --- a 9% rise from its current 20% contribution.

> Samsung's display arm begins OLED panel production at Noida plant

So with 15 years of experience making 20-30% of their smartphones in India, it doesn't seem too risky to finally try a flagship.

That doesn't compare to Apple experimenting with metal parts made by a car manufacturer, Tata/Jaguar.

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pdinc t1_ja778jw wrote

TIL - that definitely changes my perspective. Although the reason I focused on the Apple example is because the Fold is also all about the chassis, the fact that Samsung has operated for other components means their learning curve is smaller relative to Apple.

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Mahameghabahana OP t1_ja77b8z wrote

Well considering many amount of companies are manufacturing in india compared to indonesia or Vietnam, something is really going well. Samsung already have quite a large mobile manufacturing facilities and now there are also some companies investing to making semiconductor so at least something is working.

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[deleted] t1_ja75ik3 wrote

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