Apple’s India push tested as Foxconn recalls 300 Chinese staff

Apple assembly partner Foxconn has recalled about 300 Chinese engineers from a factory in India, the latest setback for the iPhone maker’s push to rapidly expand in the country.

The extraction of Chinese workers from the factory of Yuzhan Technology, a Foxconn component unit, in southern Tamil Nadu state is the second such move in a few months. Foxconn has started flying in engineers from Taiwan to replace staff leaving, people familiar with the matter said, asking not to be named as the information is private.

Earlier this year, officials in Beijing verbally encouraged regulatory agencies and local governments to curb technology transfers and equipment exports to India and Southeast Asia in what is a potential attempt to prevent companies from shifting manufacturing elsewhere. It wasn’t immediately clear why the Foxconn workers were sent home, but the move yet again underscores the sway that Chinese technicians and the supply chain hold over the manufacturing of high-precision engineered products such as Apple’s iPhone.