Apple supplier in India burns through $12M in factory fire that burned half its machinery

Apple has been investing a lot recently to increase its production capacity in India, although the company still faces many challenges in the country. However, a massive fire at Foxlink’s facilities in India has forced the company, which is one of Apple’s main suppliers, to halt its operations in the country indefinitely.

Fire in India causes Apple supplier to halt operations

As reported by Reuters, Foxlink’s assembly facility located in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh suffered a massive fire on Monday. Part of the building collapsed, destroying about 50% of the company’s machinery.

For those unfamiliar, Foxlink is a unit of the Taiwanese company Cheng Uei Precision Industry, which makes cables for iPhone chargers. The factory in Andhra was opened in 2020, but it’s now unclear when it will resume operations. The causes of the fire are unknown at this point, but there were no causalities. The Taiwanese company estimates that it lost about $12 million from the incident.

It’s hard to measure how much this incident will impact Apple. Of course, the company has other cable suppliers around the world, but still, the news comes as a bucket of cold water for the iPhone maker amid other disheartening news related to the production of Apple devices in India.

Replacing China won’t be an easy task

As Apple wants to reduce its reliance on China, the company has been investing more in its suppliers located in other countries – including India, Taiwan, and even Brazil. Apple, for the first time, is assembling all new iPhone 14 models in India while it’s also slowly bringing the production of iPad and AirPods parts to the country.

However, a recent report revealed that Apple is unhappy with the quality of products assembled in India. Sources have revealed that 50% of iPhone casings made there have been rejected by Apple, while in China, that number is close to 0%.

There’s still some optimism that Indian companies will adapt to Apple’s demands in the future, but replacing China as its main supplier won’t be an easy task.