Earlier this month, Patently Apple posted a report about Foxconn signed an agreement to invest in India to make Apple products such as AirPods. Foxconn is also planning a second plant near the Bangalore airport that is rumored for assembling Apple devices. Lastly, we posted a report yesterday titled " India's Cellular & Electronics Association claims that smartphone exports will cross the $10 Billion mark in FY22-23, with Apple leading the way." The report noted that India is likely to produce 45-50% of iPhones by 2027, at par with China.

To hit that lofty goal, it's being reported this morning that Apple's Taiwanese supplier Pegatron is in talks to open a second assembly India plant as the U.S. tech giant's partners continue to diversify production away from China.

According to Reuters, "Pegatron plans to add a second facility near the southern city of Chennai in Tamil Nadu state, just six months after opening the first with an investment of $150 million, said the sources, who sought anonymity as the talks are private.

India is seen as the next growth frontier for Apple. Around $9 billion worth of smartphones have been exported from India between April 2022 and February this year, and iPhones accounted for more than 50% of that, according to the India Cellular and Electronics Association.

Pegatron currently accounts for 10% of Apple's iPhone production in India on an annualized basis, research firm Counterpoint said.

Apple and its key suppliers have been shifting production away from China as they seek to avoid a potential hit to business from mounting Sino-U.S. trade frictions. In recent years, Pegatron has sought to expand its footprint in Southeast Asia and North America.

The talks for starting a second Pegatron facility on lease are ongoing and it will be located inside Mahindra World City near Chennai, just around where the company inaugurated the first plant in September 2022. For more, read the full Reuters report.