Apple plan for production of airpods in India has suffered a major setback. The reason for this is less supply of rare economies minerals. China has reduced the supply of rare economy minerals. This has affected the production of iPod in India. Sources gave this information. If the situation does not improve soon, the Foxcom plant in Telangana may be affected. This can benefit the plants of Luxashare and Goetech in Vietnam.
Dysprosium is used to make compact speakers of iPods. This rare meaning comes in the category of minerals. Right now its supply is not enough. In fact, China had tightened the rules of export of 7 rare economies in April. This has a direct impact on the production of items in India in which rare meanings are used by minerals. According to sources, the company has told the Telangan government about the low supply of rare economy minerals. The Central Government and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (Meity) have also been told about this.
A source who is aware of the case told Moneycontrol, “This issue remains for Apple and industry in India. Foxconn told the Telangana government about the supply related issues. This information has also been given to many central government ministries. Now it is a diplomatic level case between the two countries.” However, the production of airpods has not yet come to a complete standstill due to reduction in supply.
Another source said that Apple and Foxcom are trying to handle the situation. However, he had already guessed the situation and took some steps accordingly. Earlier, the Economic Times had said that Foxcom had sought help from the Telangana government in the end and user certificate (EUC) case. This certificate is necessary to get the supply of rare meaning minerals from China. The EUC has the verification of rare meaning minerals and its use. The issue of certificate was resolved in collaboration with China’s Embassy and Ministry of External Affairs. However, the approval of the Chinese government has not been received yet.