According to insiders, the interruption caused by the fire would not affect the availability of the recently introduced iPhone 15 and 15 Plus phones in India.
Pegatron, one of Apple Inc.’s three Indian suppliers, paused iPhone manufacturing at its Chennai plant on Sunday night due to a minor fire. This decision, however, is unlikely to have a big impact on iPhone manufacture in the nation. It is also not expected to have an effect on the availability of the recently released iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus.
According to sources estimating the consequences of a temporary production halt, the interruption is projected to be no more than 0.1% of total annual iPhone production from its suppliers if the facility is closed for 4-5 days. If there is a longer delay in resuming manufacturing, the amount might rise.
Pegatron is the smallest iPhone assembler, with Foxconn’s Hon Hai factory dominating the market, handling around 50% of iPhone assembly. In India, Foxconn is now the exclusive manufacturer of the recently released iPhone 15 and 15 Plus variants.
According to reliable sources, Pegatron has concentrated on building older iPhone models, such as the iPhone 13 and 14. According to Counterpoint statistics, the business assembles around 10% of iPhones in the nation, but other sources imply a higher percentage.
Pegatron also lags behind in terms of exports. According to S&P Global statistics, it shipped $1.36 billion in iPhones in FY23, compared to $2.06 billion by Foxconn Hon Hai and $1.98 billion by Wistron. As a result, its percentage of overall exports is as low as 25%.
The fire, which was detected on Sunday night, forced the facility to close temporarily. Although no exact timeframe for resumed operations has been provided, Pegatron released a statement on Monday stating that there was a “spark incident” that will have no substantial financial or operational effect.
According to sources, even if all three suppliers had comparable capacity, the fire’s impact would be less than 0.36 percent of India’s total iPhone output. If the Pegatron factory is closed for seven days, it will effect only 0.6% of total output.
Apple Inc. retailers highlight that the corporation keeps a four-week supply on hand, so they anticipate no problems.
This is not the first incident at an iPhone production plant. Foxconn has briefly shut down its operations in response to worker protests over a food poisoning incident.
