Tag: apple

The Apple suppliers, along with a known camera parts maker, proposed to set up a unit on about 23 acres of land with a proposed investment of Rs 2,800 crore….reports PAWAN KUMAR TRIPATHI

With Apple eyeing to ramp up manufacturing in India amid Covid-related supply chain issues in China, the Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YEIDA) said on Wednesday that some of Apple suppliers have applied for land with the authority, with a proposed investment of Rs 2,800 crore while generating thousands of jobs.

YEIDA CEO Arun Vir Singh told IANS that these companies have already deposited 10 per cent of the proposed allocation for land in Sector 29 under the Yamuna Authority near the upcoming Jewar airport in Greater Noida.

“Seiko Advance Limited, an ink manufacturing company, expressed its desire to make its product on 5 acres of land in Sector 29 of YEIDA,” Singh informed.

Seiko Advance Limited alone will invest Rs 850 crore and provide employment to thousands of people, he added.

Sector 29 is well-developed with several available facilities for companies.

The Apple suppliers, along with a known camera parts maker, proposed to set up a unit on about 23 acres of land with a proposed investment of Rs 2,800 crore.

Singh told IANS that Apple suppliers proposed the investment at a recently-held meeting in South Korea.

Seiko Advance creates ink for devices like the iPhones.

Apple CEO Tim Cook had visited the company in 2019, when he had said that the ‘Midnight Green’ colour dye was “only made by high-quality control and craftsmanship” at its plant.

Meanwhile, Apple is fast forwarding its manufacturing plans in India and Vietnam in the wake of unrest in China over zero-Covid policy which has severely disrupted its supply chain, leading to an acute shortage of new iPhone 14 Pro models.

The Wall Street Journal had earlier reported that the company is “telling its suppliers to plan more actively for assembling Apple products elsewhere in Asia, particularly in India and Vietnam” in order to “reduce dependence on Taiwanese assemblers led by Foxconn”.

The China upheaval, which hit its key supplier Foxconn’s Zhengzhou factory last month, resulting in violent protests, means “Apple no longer feels comfortable having so much of its business tied up in one place”, the report said, citing analysts and people in the Apple supply chain.

Apple aims to ship 40-45 per cent of iPhones from India compared to a single-digit percentage currently, according to analyst Ming-chi Kuo.

Every fourth iPhone will be made in India by 2025, according to J.P. Morgan.

In a fillip to India’s thrust on local manufacturing, Apple had earlier this year kicked off production of new iPhone 14 in India, a first for the tech giant as it narrows down the manufacturing period of new iPhones in the country to cut dependence on China.

Buoyed by the ease-of-doing business and friendly local manufacturing policies, Apple’s ‘Make in India’ iPhones will potentially account for close to 85 per cent of its total iPhone production for the country this year, according to industry experts.

Apple first started manufacturing iPhones in India in 2017, with iPhone SE.

The tech giant manufactures some of its most advanced iPhones in the country, including iPhone 11, iPhone 12 and iPhone 13 at the Foxconn facility, while iPhone SE and iPhone 12 are being assembled at the Wistron factory in the country.

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Apple is planning to shift iPad manufacturing to India as the company looks to move up to 30 per cent of its manufacturing outside of China…reports Asian Lite News

As Apple plans to shift more iPhone production away from China to India, it is now reportedly looking to also move the production of some iPads to India to keep its supply chain healthy amid Covid-related disruptions.

Apple has “talked to Indian officials about locating some iPad manufacturing in the country as US-China relations sour and China’s Covid crackdowns snarl supply chains,” reports CNBC, citing sources.

Apple is planning to shift iPad manufacturing to India as the company looks to move up to 30 per cent of its manufacturing outside of China.

The report said that no concrete plans have been made yet, “but if the effort is successful, it would expand Apple’s footprint in the country”.

Apple did not comment on the report.

In India, Apple iPads logged an impressive 34 per cent growth (on-year) in India in the second quarter (Q2) and the company sold over 0.2 million devices in the country, according to CMR.

Apple iPad (Gen 9) and iPad Air 2022 accounted for a lion’s share of the iPad shipments, according to the CMR Q2 data.

The tech giant is also fast forwarding its manufacturing plans in India and Vietnam in the wake of China unrest over zero-Covid policy which has severely disrupted its supply chain, leading to an acute shortage of new iPhone 14 Pro models.

The Wall Street Journal reported over the last weekend that the company is “telling suppliers to plan more actively for assembling Apple products elsewhere in Asia, particularly India and Vietnam” in order to “reduce dependence on Taiwanese assemblers led by Foxconn”.

The China upheaval, which hit its key supplier Foxconn’s Zhengzhou factory last month resulting in violent protests, means “Apple no longer feels comfortable having so much of its business tied up in one place,” the report said, citing analysts and people in the Apple supply chain.

Apple aims to ship 40-45 per cent of iPhones from India compared with a single-digit percentage currently, according to famed analyst Ming-chi Kuo.

Kuo has predicted that iPhone shipments in the fourth quarter this year are likely to reach around 70 million to 75 million units, nearly 10 million less than market projections before the China turmoil.

Every fourth iPhone will be made in India by 2025, according to J.P. Morgan.

Apple first started manufacturing iPhones in India in 2017, with iPhone SE.

The tech giant manufactures some of its most advanced iPhones in the country, including iPhone 11, iPhone 12 and iPhone 13 at the Foxconn facility while iPhone SE and iPhone 12 are being assembled at the Wistron factory in the country.

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When Apple first introduced digital car keys in 2020, iPhone users were able to share them via iMessage, Apple’s instant messaging service..reports Asian Lite News

Apple has announced that iPhone users can now share car keys in the Wallet app with non-iPhone users, starting with Google Pixel devices.

With iOS 16.2 software, users will be able to share digital car keys with non-iPhone users.

According to TechCrunch, the company said that this capability will extend to other devices with Android 12+ in the future.

The company added that it has been working with the Internet Engineering Task Force and other industry players to establish a standard for sharing digital keys across platforms.

The digital car keys can be shared via email, text message and WhatsApp.

When Apple first introduced digital car keys in 2020, iPhone users were able to share them via iMessage, Apple’s instant messaging service, according to the report.

According to an Apple post, digital car keys can usually be added to the Apple Watch (Series 5 or later or the Apple Watch SE) with the latest version of watchOS.

Apple’s digital car keys are one of many features that allow users to carry less stuff around.

Meanwhile, Apple also rolled out a new iOS 16.1.2 update for its devices, which includes significant security fixes and improves the reliability of the crash detection feature for iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro users.

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Over the past few years, India has made rapid strides in the manufacturing sector as well as the electronics industry segment as part of its resolve to not remain dependent on the thin supply chain emanating from China…reports Asian Lite News

Every fourth iPhone will be made in India by 2025 as per J.P. Morgan Analysts’ reading of the last month and Apple Inc recently announced its plan to produce 5 per cent of latest model – iPhone 14 this year in India is much earlier than anticipated.

It is considered that this is the tech giant’s strategy to diversify manufacturing and relocating its plant outside of China amid mounting geopolitical tensions and the global supply chain “de-risking” which is underway because of China’s “zero-Covid” policy, but India is the desired destination shows a significant milestone in the history of the company and India’s preparedness, past performance especially its remarkable resilience during and after the second wave of Covid-19 and competency as well.

It is a known fact that an overwhelming majority of the world’s electronics and electrical equipment and manufacturing has remained limited to a few select countries like China.

Apart from the well-researched factors like a cheaper and larger workforce, it has also been so because of business-friendly ecosystem in such nations. However, with the looming pandemic and supply chain constraints that were seen over the last couple of years, the detrimental effects of any industry’s overdependence on China or any one nation for that matter were clearly seen by the world.

Severely hampering the interests of the larger population, the disturbances in the lone supply chain from China has had a domino effect as well. Many countries far-off have had to pay a heavy price. Taking lessons from what the globe faced in these last couple of years, the world has been actively trying to secure other locations and countries to establish their manufacturing units and usher in a new era of electronics manufacturing and equipment as well.

Over the past few years, India has made rapid strides in the manufacturing sector as well as the electronics industry segment as part of its resolve to not remain dependent on the thin supply chain emanating from China. The hugely-successful tech and innovation giant Apple announced that their biggest unit to manufacture iPhones will be coming up in Hosur, Bengaluru employing about 60,000 people single-handedly. Of these, the first 10 per cent i.e. 6,000 employees would be tribal women from Jharkhand who have undergone training in making these select iPhone mobile devices. This further provides opportunities to not only rural folk but also the tribal sisters that has remained outside the mainstream until now.

In this context, it is not a surprise that Apple’s major supplier Foxconn has recently announced its collaboration with the Indian giant Vedanta to establish a semiconductor manufacturing unit in Gujarat. With this plant functioning, India would enter the elite club of 5 nations that have the ability to manufacture glass and semiconductors as well.

Therefore, it becomes a noteworthy milestone and indeed a revolutionary step that these global giants are finally making their presence felt instead of just seeing potential in India.

“Geopolitics and geo-economics are undergoing a sea change. The world is looking to adopt a China Plus One strategy and India is clearly in a sweet spot. This is India’s moment,” said Anil Agarwal, the Chairman of Vedanta.

Following the mounting geopolitical tensions emanating from China and the consequent cut in production of mobile devices by multiple non-Chinese tech platforms, tech and business analysts have reported that the tech giant Apple was looking for ways to move about 5 per cent of iPhone production and 25 per cent of all Apple production including of Mac, iPad, Apple Watch and Airpods, away from China towards India – the second-biggest smartphone market in the globe.

This is a result of dampened sales outlook, fears of an incoming recession as well as the efforts of tech giants to shift production towards more peaceful and stable systems like India. From an industries and manufacturing point of view, India has become much more lucrative than earlier with new-age policies and business outlook apart from reduced red-tapism and streamlined single-window clearances amidst the erstwhile bureaucratic hurdles in place. This single step would be able to create a huge ecosystem for India’s ancillary industries as well.

India, which is world’s fifth largest economy, has been striving hard to position itself as an attractive manufacturing and exports hub for multinationals.

Slashing the corporate tax rates in September 2019, India’s Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said: “If Apple and its entire ecosystem move to India, it will have a greater effect on other companies” and it happened. The rising focus on India can be attributed to India’s operating conditions and cost competitiveness in terms of value. In addition, the country has proven success in meeting outsourcing requirements that laid favourable ecosystem for MNCs. It has earned the trust of several nations around the world with true spirit of hard work, professionalism and ethical practices. It has a large domestic market and plentiful low-cost talent pool.

Apple Inc. has been manufacturing iPhones at Foxconn’s Sriperumbudur factory in India’s southern state of Tamil Nadu since 2017. Apple gets iPhones made by electronic giants – Foxconn, Wistron and Pegatron in India. Apple has already outsourced the making of iPhones India to Tata Electronics’ Plant in Hosur that is expanding its facility and roping in one of the contract manufacturer of iPhone. Now, India is all set to get the biggest Apple Inc. iPhone manufacturing unit in the same town.

In furtherance of the announcement that the workforce at the manufacturing unit would quadruple over the next couple of years, the expansion of current facilities and scaling up of production output have also been reported by various sections of the media. In turn, this is surely bound to lead to further investment and the establishment of many new ventures as well. With the potential to improve livelihoods of thousands of individuals as well as put India on the global electronics map, the government has been ramping up support for its agenda of self-reliance or atmanirbharta through many such government policies and regulations as well.

With a renewed focus on research & development in this sector, this inward-looking approach of the Indian government has ensured that our domestic manufacturing capabilities are given enough of a support to stand up and deliver in case the need so arose. Playing a significant role in innovation, this effort to develop India into a manufacturing hub with an entrepreneur-friendly ecosystem would help both the nation and the world as well.

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The company said that paid accounts are growing faster than transacting accounts, so the penetration of paid accounts is increasing…reports Asian Lite News

Apple now has 900 million paid subscriptions on the platform which doubled in just three years, the company CEO Tim Cook has announced.

The company said that paid accounts are growing faster than transacting accounts, so the penetration of paid accounts is increasing.

“We have a great subscription business, 900 million paid subs now on the platform and growing very fast. We doubled in 3 years. This is the part that is really interesting to us because we really believe that the engine for services growth is there, foreign exchange is a temporary thing and the fundamentals are very good,” Cook said during the company’s earnings call for the September quarter.

Services notched a September quarter record as well with a revenue of $19.2 billion.

“We reached another record on our installed base of active devices, thanks to a quarterly record of upgraders and double-digit growth in switchers on iPhone. Across nearly every geographic segment, we reached a new revenue record for the quarter,” said Cook.

On silicon-related supply constraints, he said these issues were not significant in the quarter.

“I want to acknowledge that we are still living through unprecedented times. From war in Eastern Europe to the persistence of Covid-19, from climate disasters around the world to an increasingly difficult economic environment, a lot of people and a lot of places are struggling,” said the Apple CEO.

“Through it all, we’ve aimed to help our customers navigate through the challenges while giving them the tools to drive progress for themselves and their communities,” he added.

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Apple also announced new initiatives and investments aimed at promoting climate solutions for communities and decarbonising the global economy…reports Asian Lite News

San Francisco, Oct 25 (IANS) Tech giant Apple on Tuesday called on its global supply chain to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and use a holistic approach to decarbonisation.

Apple also announced new initiatives and investments aimed at promoting climate solutions for communities and decarbonising the global economy.

“Fighting climate change remains one of Apple’s most urgent priorities and moments like this put action to those words,” said Apple CEO Tim Cook.

“We’re looking forward to continued partnership with our suppliers to make Apple’s supply chain carbon neutral by 2030. Climate action at Apple doesn’t stop at our doors, and in this work, we’re determined to be a ripple in the pond that creates a bigger change,” he added.

According to Apple, its worldwide corporate operations have been carbon neutral since 2020, and the company is laser-focused on achieving its ambitious goal of becoming carbon neutral throughout its entire global supply chain and the life cycle of every product.

As part of Apple’s supplier engagement, the company is partnering with its worldwide supply chain to urge accelerated action to achieve carbon neutrality for their Apple-related corporate operations, it added.

Additionally, the company encourages suppliers to address greenhouse gas emissions beyond Apple production.

The company is also offering a suite of free e-learning resources and live training through its “Clean Energy Programme” that will help suppliers meet their commitments and go even further.

This will also allow work closely with its suppliers and local partners to identify effective solutions for renewable energy and carbon removal.

Moreover, customers in the US can now play a role in decreasing the carbon footprint of iPhones with Clean Energy Charging.

Starting this month, the feature is available in the US through iOS 16 that will look at the source of electricity during expected charge times in order to optimise for cleaner energy sources such as solar or wind, according to a report.

Apple introduces ‘Clean Energy Charging’

San Francisco, Oct 25 (IANS) Apple has introduced a new feature called “Clean Energy Charging” to iOS 16.1-enabled iPhones that will allow users to cut down on their carbon footprint.

Those who prefer cleaner charging methods can use Clean Energy Charging, which selectively charges when low-carbon electricity is available.

Clean Energy Charging works together with “Optimised Battery Charging” to learn users charging habits. It engages only where the user spends the most time and regularly charges their iPhone for long periods, such as at home or work, according to the tech giant.

It doesn’t engage if users charging habits are variable or if they are in a new location, such as when travelling.

Clean Energy Charging is available only in the US, and it is enabled by default when users set up their iPhones or update to iOS 16.1. Users can disable it by going to Settings, Battery, Battery Health and Charging and then turning off Clean Energy Charging.

Whenever Clean Energy Charging suspends charging, an alert appears on the lock screen letting users know when their iPhone will be fully charged.

When the user needs their iPhone fully charged sooner, tap “Charge Now” after holding the notification for a few seconds, it added.

Along with Clean Energy Charging, iOS 16.1 also features live activities, wallet key sharing, lock screen/home screen customisation, matter support, delete wallet app, battery percentage in the status bar, screenshot UI, and more.

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