Tata wants to make iPhones in South India by copying China's dorm labour model. Here's why it won't work

What put iPhone city on the map is that it produces more than half of the world’s iPhone’s every single year. The global demand for the Apple iPhone has only increased over the years. To keep up with that demand Foxconn hires up to 200,000 workers – a mix of migrants and college students – to make sure that the assembly lines keep running. Especially during the peak season which happens to begin right around now, from September to February. 

Iphone city is the perfect example of the China manufacturing playbook. It is what propelled China to emerge as the world’s manufacturing hub. It’s pretty simple – Foxconn and companies like it build these large facilities, pack millions of migrant laborers into dorms near their facilities, and get them to work long hours, in often tough conditions. 

But now things are changing. More and more global companies are adopting a China-plus-one strategy. And India is becoming a favoured alternative. 

And  as the focus shifts our way, manufacturers in India are pretty much replicating the same China labour model. But this model has an indigenous problem.

Tune in

**This episode was first published on September 26, 2024.

Daybreak is produced from the newsroom of The Ken, India’s first subscriber-only business news platform. Subscribe for more exclusive, deeply-reported, and analytical business stories.Listen to the latest episode of Two by Two here