TDK of Japan to manufacture  Li-ion cells for iPhones in Haryana

The government said on Monday that TDK Corp, a Japanese electronic components company, will manufacture lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery cells for Apple iPhone handsets in India. The move is expected to create thousands of jobs and will benefit the country's product linked incentive (PLI) plan as well as mobile device manufacturing in India. Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology, made the announcement on X, previously Twitter.

TDK is a renowned supplier of cells to Apple

"Another significant victory for PM @narendramodi ji's visionary PLI scheme in relocating the mobile manufacturing ecosystem to India." TDK, a renowned supplier of cells to Apple, is constructing a 180-acre plant in Manesar, Haryana, to manufacture cells for batteries used in #MadeInIndia iPhones. Several thousand new employment will be produced, as well as an increase in domestic value addition. Congratulations to Apple, the TDK team, and the Haryana government's @cmohry for facilitating the GoI's aim of strengthening India's electronic manufacturing ecosystem," the MoS wrote.

Notably, Cupertino, California-based Apple, is promoting India as a growth engine as it seeks to relocate some of its production away from China. According to Chandrasekhar, Japanese manufacturer TDK plans to develop a manufacturing facility in the northern state of Haryana, creating thousands of new employment, according to Reuters, quoting Business Standard.

The unit's battery cells will be delivered to Apple's li-ion battery manufacturer Sunwoda Electronics

This development comes as Apple is expected to have fewer shipments of its gadgets such as Apple Watches, iPads, Macs, and AirPods, but an increase in iPhone shipments in India. Counterpoint Research shows Mac shipments will likely fall 15% to 18% in the 2023 calendar year. iPad shipments are expected to decline by 6% to 8%.

Apple iPhone shipments are expected to increase at a time when the broader smartphone industry is expected to contract by 2%. With 152 million smartphones sold in 2022, a 2% decrease would result in around 149 million handsets sold in 2023. Apple accounted for approximately 6% of overall sales, accounting for nearly 8.9 million handsets.