Emir Bardakçı
Based on reports from Digitimes , the Indian subsidiary of Foxconn, Bharat FIH, is in a considerable turmoil as orders from one of the main customers have fallen by about 70%. The company is hit with senior executive departures and might shut down one of its two factories in India.
The company has witnessed the resignation of three independent directors in the past three months. This includes chairman of InterGlobe Aviation, Venkataramani Sumantran, Ramaraj R- the co-founder of Sify Technologies-and, and former IT Secretary, Aruna Sundararajan. Another independent director, Dipali Hemant Sheth, is also unclear about his tenure.
In marked relief to the ongoing troubles at Bharat FIH, Foxconn is aggressively expanding its booming iPhone production operations in India through other subsidiaries to meet growing demand.
Sources familiar with the development said Bharat FIH’s mobile phone assembly business has been hit hard by the sharp fall in orders from one of its largest customers, Xiaomi. The company is consolidating operations at its Sriperumbudur plant while attempting to diversify into sectors like telecom equipment and EV components, TVs, and displays.
Bharat FIH churns out phones for brands like Nokia and Xiaomi from its two factories in India. But its Sriperumbudur plant is overwhelmingly dependent on Xiaomi and its sub-brands like Poco and Redmi, making it vulnerable to fluctuations in orders from the Chinese smartphone giant. In this regard, an analyst said Bharat FIH’s business became entirely dependent on the mobile industry of Xiaomi in India. With orders from Xiaomi falling off, the future is rendered very uncertain for the Indian operations of this Foxconn subsidiary.
Xiaomi has declined to comment on the matter at hand with its manufacturing partner. The developments underline the challenges that device brands and their suppliers face in the fiercely competitive and rapidly shifting Indian smartphone market.
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