Apple supplier Foxlink reportedly halted production at Indian factory after massive fire

Apple supplier Foxlink halted production at its assembly plant in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh and evacuated 400 of its employees after a massive fire on Monday, two officials told Reuters of local government.

Foxlink makes cables for iPhones. About 50% of the machinery at the facility was damaged and half of the building collapsed, said J Ramanaiah, who heads the disaster response and fire service department of Tirupati district in India. State, where the incident occurred.

Management estimated the damage at Rs. 100 crore to the facility, he said, adding that there were no casualties.

Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A Foxlink official did not return calls.

Meanwhile, a few days ago, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said that tech companies like Apple and Google have expanded their phone production in India, which has inspired more US companies to deepen their tech ties with India.

“I look forward to deepening ties in the technology sector. The United States offers an approach called ‘friendshoring’ to build resilience in our supply chains. We do this by deepening integration with our many partners trusted trading companies, including India. We are seeing progress, for example, tech companies like Apple and Google have expanded their production of phones in India,” Yellen said.

She made the comments during a roundtable with US and Indian tech leaders in Bangalore during a meeting under India’s G20 presidency.

In fact, Finland’s Salcomp, a supplier to US technology group Apple, is also reportedly looking to more than double its workforce in India to nearly 25,000 over the next 2-3 years, a company executive said earlier this week. this month.