Foxconn Sends Back Chinese Staff From India

Move may hit Apple India's iPhone 17 plans

- SURAJEET DAS GUPTA & SHINE JACOB

In a setback to Apple's India expansion plans, Foxconn Technology Group has been sending hundreds of its Chinese engineers and technicians back home from its iPhone factories in India, it is learnt.

This is likely to affect the Cupertino major's production plans of iPhone 17, expected to be unveiled in mid-September.

This comes at a time when the Taiwanese contract manufacturer—Apple's largest—is expanding its capacity in India. Some of the company's new assembly plants, including in Bengaluru, are coming up soon. The development also coincides with India's ongoing trade talks with the United States in a bid to strike a bilateral agreement before the reciprocal tax kicks in on July 9.