NEW DELHI: IPhone assembler Foxconn on July 10 dropped out of a $19.5 billion deal with Indian company Vedanta. The Taiwanese semiconductor making company had earlier said it wanted to build a semiconductor manufacturing factory in India partnering Vedanta.
Foxconn provided a vague explanation as to why it ended its plans to build a semiconductor facility in the country. “Foxconn has determined it will not move forward on the joint venture with Vedanta,” reads a company statement. Foxconn says the deal was ended mutually. Vedanta has “lined up other partners” to set up the foundry, the company said in a statement.
Device makers like Apple have been working with more supply partners to diversify manufacturing outside mainland China as political and economic uncertainties mount. India, in particular, is a market Apple has been trying to break into; the company opened its first Indian retail store in Mumbai and New Delhi in April.