December 7, 2022: -India is exploring options to get a few of Apple’s iPad products to the area from China, according to two heads close to the Indian government. No concrete plans have existed, but if the effort is successful, it will expand Apple’s footprint in the country. The tech giant is said which holds ongoing discussions with officials.

Apple announced earlier this year it had started assembling its flagship iPhone 14 in India. The tech firm has been producing older models of the iPhone in the country for some years.

The tech giant’s ambitions to diversify its supply chain from China follow protests over the motherland for more than two weeks amid Beijing’s strict zero-Covid rule. Apple gave the last warning in early November that iPhone shipments would stand delayed because of the lockdowns, and analysts have been cutting iPhone estimates for the crucial holiday quarter.

The Wall Street Journal reported more than the weekend that Apple is actively searching to shift shows out of China to different countries in Asia, including India and Vietnam.

However, authorities warn that a lack of increased skilled talent and people with expertise in building increasingly complex devices like the iPad could slow down these views in India. The foreign administration backdrop also doesn’t help, with tensions increasing between India and China. The two countries have been squared off in recent years more than territorial disputes, which resulted in escalated military presence at the border of India and China.

Gene Munster at Loop Ventures predicts that 10% of iPhones are created in India, but he anticipates production to increase slowly. 

“I think 35% will be manufactured in India in five years,” added Munster. “I think Apple is adding iPhone production to other countries outside India and China in the coming five years. Therefore, Vietnam, Malaysia and the USA.”

In a note, Piper Jaffray’s Harsh Kumar noted, “While Apple has made efforts moving production out of China, in our view, India still accounts for less than 5% of complete iPhone 14 production and is likely to assist only to a narrow degree at this time.”