(AOF) – Apple is asking its suppliers to transfer part of their production of AirPods and Beats headphones to India for the first time, the Nikkei Asia newspaper reveals. According to three sources familiar with the matter, production could begin next year. “iPhone assembler Foxconn is preparing to manufacture Beats headphones in the country, and hopes to eventually produce AirPods there as well, said two people with direct knowledge of the matter,” the outlet said.
Apple recently announced that it has started manufacturing iPhone 14s in India.
The American technology group wants to diversify the supply chain outside of China due to rising geopolitical risks, but also supply problems caused by Beijing’s “zero Covid” policy.
This move by Apple also comes as the Indian government has put in place attractive policies, by offering financial incentives, to increase local manufacturing for both the Indian domestic market and the international market.
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Growth of the French market in value
According to the Gfk institute, the sector generated sales of 4.8 billion euros in 2021, up 2% compared to 2020. The product families that benefited from the best performance are in particular helmets and accessories as well as televisions. However, while the French consumer electronics market grew in value last year, it fell in terms of volumes (-2% with 51 million units sold). This trend can be explained by a move upmarket in products: Bluetooth speakers are more powerful or even television sets use more innovative technologies. Thus the development of technologies that improve image resolution (Oled, Qled, miniled) and the size of screens have caused an increase of more than 20% in the average price. Consumers are also looking for more sustainable products.
New ambitions of Samsung and Huawei on the market
Samsung recently unveiled four new laptops after it backed away from operating outside Korea in 2015. For his part, faced with the American sanctions which have penalized his activities in the field of smartphones since 2019, the founder of Huawei, called at the beginning of the year his employees to accelerate the diversification of the group. The Chinese giant recently displayed its ambitions in the PC/tablet market, which is one of the pillars of this strategy. To do this, it will have to compete with Lenovo in China and above all take market share in the United States and Western Europe, markets known to be difficult to penetrate.