AirPods Enclosures Now Being Made in India

The Indian unit of Apple supplier Jabil Inc. has started exporting plastic enclosures for the AirPods to China and Vietnam, where the wireless earphones are assembled (via Bloomberg).

Citing people familiar with the matter, the publication notes that Apple’s India output has thus far been limited to the iPhone, but now, AirPods are also being partially made in the country.

Jabil currently operates an 858,000 square foot (80,000 square meters) facility employing more than 2,500 workers in Pune, western India.

The country has already given initial clearances to more than a dozen of Apple’s Chinese suppliers to ramp up via joint ventures with Indian partners.

Luxshare Precision Industry Co Ltd., one of Apple’s Chinese suppliers which makes AirPods, is among the companies gaining that approval.

Luxshare in 2020 agreed to take over a shuttered Motorola plant in India’s southern Tamil Nadu state, but is yet to begin manufacturing Apple products locally.

Apple’s latest India push comes as Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government is drawing up plans to give financial incentives for local production of wireless earphones and smartwatches.

Apple, however, still has a long way to go to diversify out of China, which makes nearly 98% of iPhones.