Apple’s iPhone 15 production in India triggers Indo-China social media battle

Apple’s iPhone manufacturer, Foxconn, has not only commenced local production of the iPhone 15 at its Sriperumbudur facility near Tamil Nadu, India but has also initiated exports to other countries.

This year, India-made iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus cellphones became available on September 22, coinciding with their global launch. The objective was to reduce the time gap between the launch and availability and to boost exports from India to other nations.

Apple’s iPhone 15 production in India triggered Chinese reactions

Production of Apple’s iPhone 15 in India has triggered reactions from Chinese netizens, as many of them have attempted to spread rumors. These reactions stem from Apple’s shift in production from China to India, as traditionally, all iPhone production took place in China.

Many Chinese netizens have asserted that the India-made iPhone 15 models suffer from inferior quality, alleging issues such as overheating, discoloration, and chipping. Some even claimed that Europeans rejected iPhone 15 models produced in India, leading Apple to replace them with China-made units.

Furthermore, they alleged that India-made iPhone 15 devices are being dumped in the Chinese market. A few have even published tutorials on how to identify iPhone 15 cellphones produced in India.

A teardown guy show Apple's iPhone 15 and said there was dust in the lens and motherboard. This raises an interesting quality issue: Some iPhone 15 are said to be made in India, although it seems like the pros are made in China. Some people suspect that the quality is not good… pic.twitter.com/4qr77QIuGH

— Majin Bu (@MajinBuOfficial) September 23, 2023

iPhone 15 n 15 plus r made in India and its fine. The problem is with made in china iPhone 15 pro n Max pic.twitter.com/B2v7jx8EM5

— akhil272 (@akhil_272) September 24, 2023

All rumors regarding the iPhone 15’s production in India have been dismissed, and the reactions of Chinese netizens have been labeled as ‘baseless and racist remarks.’

Apple expands local manufacturing operation in India

Apple has expanded its local manufacturing operations in India. Last year, Apple began assembling the iPhone 14 at the Foxconn facility in India in September, marking the first time in years that a new iPhone was assembled within weeks of its global launch in the country.

This year, Apple commenced shipping the iPhone 15 from both India and China simultaneously.

After locally-manufactured iPhone 15 cellphones became available in India on the global sales day of September 22, it is likely that Apple will further expand its iPhone production in India.