Washington and Beijing have been at loggerheads over key issues ranging from trade tariffs to the Iran war to Taiwan [File]
| Photo Credit: AP

Apple introduced its iPhone 17 series in September last year and rumours surrounding its upcoming lineup have already started doing rounds on the internet. In a latest, a tipster has claimed that the Pro models in the iPhone 18 series could have a Dynamic Island that is approximately 35% smaller in size in comparison with the latest iPhone 17 Pro models.

Much Smaller Dynamic Island For iPhone 18 Pro Models

In an X post, tipster Ice Universe suggested that the Cupertino-based tech giant might reduce the Dynamic Island cutout width from 20.76 mm in iPhone 17 Pro models to just 13.49 mm for the upcoming iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max smartphones.

“The Dynamic Island cutout width on the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max has been reduced from 20.76 mm to 13.49 mm, representing a reduction of approximately 35%,” read the social media post from Ice Universe, who also shared a mockup image to highlgiht how it might look like in the upcoming devices.

The Dynamic Island cutout width on the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max has been reduced from 20.76 mm to 13.49 mm, representing a reduction of approximately 35%. pic.twitter.com/dLnUdCts7z

— Ice Universe (@UniverseIce) January 23, 2026

Earlier, reports suggested that Apple could feature under-display Face ID for the iPhone 18 Pro models, which could further contribute towards downsizing the notch.

Apple first introduced the pill-shaped cutout with the Pro models in its iPhone 14 lineup in 2022. At that time, it replaced the wide notch found on the previous models. Besides the sensors for Face ID and front camera, the notch also supports other key features, including notifications and real-time tracking.

A report from The Information recently claimed that iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max might come with only a small hole in the top-left corner of the screen that will accommodate the front-facing camera, while all Face ID hardware will be moved under the screen. This meant that the upcoming models will no longer feature the pill-shaped cutout at the top of the screen.

However, a tipster later claimed that the same was unlikely to happen. 

LTPO+ Display, Price And More Details

Recently, it came out that Apple is preparing to use LTPO+ (Low Temperature Crystal Silicon Oxide) display panels for the iPhone 18 range. 

A report from South Korean outlet ETNews suggested that the company has lined up Samsung Display and LG Display as key suppliers for the screens. Besides the iPhone 18 models, it is also expected to be used for the highly anticipated foldable iPhone. 

When it comes to price, leaks from Korean tipster yeux1122 suggest that Apple might increase the price for iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max versions due to surging costs for DRAM and NAND memory. However, the company is anticipated to maintain the price for base iPhone 18 model as its predecessor.

ALSO READ: Apple iPhone 18 Pro Models May Be Pricier; No Hike For iPhone 18 — But There’s A Catch

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Cognizant and eight other major corporations have been questioned by U.S. Senators for filing thousands of H-1B skilled labour visa petitions after conducting “mass layoffs” of American employees.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley and ranking member Richard Durbin have also questioned Amazon, Apple, Deloitte, Google, JPMorgan Chase, Meta, Microsoft, and Walmart, asking them for details on their hiring and recruitment practices as well as any variation in salary and benefits between H-1B visa holders and American employees.

The Senators said their “inquiry” comes at a time when the unemployment rate in America’s tech sector is “well above” the overall jobless rate. According to the Federal Reserve, recent American graduates with STEM degrees now face higher unemployment rates than the general population, they stated.

It is pertinent to mention that Senator Grassley and Senator Durbin have been vocal critics of the H-1B visa programme and have consistently contended that these visas are being abused by many to replace U.S. workers with cheaper labour from overseas.

In fact, just a few days after their missive to the ten companies, the Senators said they are reintroducing bipartisan legislation to “reform and close loopholes” in the H-1B and L-1 visa programs.

The H-1B and L-1 Visa Reform Act targets fraud and abuse in U.S. immigration system, provides protection for American workers and visa holders and enhances transparency in the foreign worker recruitment process, the two argued.

“In evaluating the high unemployment rate for American tech workers, we cannot ignore the massive, ongoing layoffs ordered by you and your peers in Big Tech C-suites over the past few years…At the same time you have been laying off your employees, you have been filing H-1B visa petitions for (thousands of) foreign workers,” the Senators wrote in letters to 10 major employers in the U.S. on September 25, 2025.

They added: “With all of the homegrown American talent relegated to the sidelines, we find it hard to believe that (you) cannot find qualified American tech workers to fill these positions.”

On TCS, the statement noted that the company recently announced plans to lay off over 12,000 employees, including American staff.

“In fiscal year 2025, TCS applied for and received approval to hire 5,505 foreign H1-1B employees. TCS is currently under investigation by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission for allegedly firing older American employees in favour of newly hired foreign H-1B visa holders,” it said.

It further said Cognizant Technology Solutions laid off thousands of workers, including employees in the US.

“In fiscal year 2025, Cognizant applied for and received approval to hire 2,493 foreign H-1B employees. In 2024, a federal jury concluded Cognizant favoured South Asian H1-B visa holders over American employees, which warranted punitive damages,” it added.

E-mails sent to TCS and Cognizant for comments by PTI did not elicit a response.

The statement by Grassley and Durbin noted that Amazon laid off tens-of-thousands of employees in recent years, blaming the adoption of generative AI tools. In fiscal year 2025, Amazon applied for and received approval to hire 10,044 foreign H-1B employees.

Google, it said, laid off tens-of-thousands of employees in recent years, including hundreds of workers in its platform and device unit, and 35% of its small team managers “despite enjoying records profits”.

In fiscal year 2025, Google applied for and received approval to hire 4,181 foreign H-1B employees, the statement observed.

According to it, Meta laid off a quarter of its workforce between 2022 and 2023 and labelled it a “year of efficiency”.

“In 2025, Meta laid off 3,600 employees, overshooting its stated goal of laying off another five per cent of its workforce. In fiscal year 2025, Meta applied for and received approval to hire 5,123 foreign H-1B employees,” it said.

Microsoft applied for and received approval to hire 5,189 foreign H-1B employees in fiscal year 2025, as per the statement.

Microsoft laid off 16,000 employees this year alone, despite record revenue and profits, it said adding amid criticism for mass-layoffs, Microsoft characterised its actions as an “enigma of success”.

Published – October 03, 2025 10:49 pm IST

New Delhi:

Apple’s new iPhone series, iPhone 16e, is being assembled in India for domestic sales as well as export to select countries, the company said on Thursday.

The company has launched iPhone 16e at a lower price range, compared to iPhone 16 series, which will start selling in India from February 28 onwards.

The pre-orders of iPhone 16e will begin on Friday, February 21 and availability on Apple store as well as on authorised partners of the company will be from February 28 onwards.

“The entire iPhone 16 lineup, including iPhone 16e, is being assembled in India for Indian consumers and for export to select countries,” Apple said in a response to a query on Thursday.

The company on Wednesday announced the launch of the new iPhone 16e series at a starting price of Rs 59,900 apiece.

The device comes with A18 chip, Apple Intelligence, and 48MP Fusion camera with an integrated 2x Telephoto lens.

The phone also supports satellite communication for Emergency SOS, Roadside Assistance, Messages etc.

Users can also use the ‘Find My’ app to share their location via satellite when they are outside cellular network coverage.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Apple has been accused of exposing users to cancer in a new lawsuit filed in the US that claims that the tech giant’s Watch bands contain high levels of toxic chemicals. According to Daily Mail, the lawsuit claims that Apple’s “Ocean,” “Nike Sport,” and regular “Sport” Watch bands contain high levels of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), commonly known as “forever chemicals,” which have been linked to a range of health problems. PFAS chemicals are known for their ability to persist in the human body and environment, earning them their nickname. 

According to the Daily Mail, the lawsuit stems from a recent study on 22 watch bands from various companies in the US. The research found that 15 of the 22 contained harmful PFAS chemicals; among these watches, some were made by Apple. 

The lawsuit, filed in California on Tuesday, specifically alleges that the Sport Band, the Ocean Band and the Nike Sport Band that ships with Nike-branded Apple Watches contain high levels of PFAS. It also alleges that Apple knowingly and willfully did not inform consumers which products contain harmful PFAS, even though the Apple Watch is marketed as a health-promoting device. 

“Instead, in respect of watches, (Apple) continues to hide the existence of PFAS at the point of purchase and otherwise,” the lawsuit states. “(Apple) could have avoided the unreasonable safety and environmental hazard with available manufacturing alternatives, and its failure to do so while continuing to promise consumers health, wellness, and sustainability is unlawful, unfair, and fraudulent under consumer protection laws,” it continues.

Also Read | Colombian President’s Daughter Mocks Trump In Tariff Clash: “For Every Colombian Deported, We Will…”

The lawsuit seeks class certification, which is like a mini-trial in which the allegations are examined and argued by each side’s attorneys. It also seeks an injunction to halt the sale of the alleged PFAS-containing watch bands and monetary penalties, the outlet reported. 

Meanwhile, in a statement to Daily Mail, Apple claimed that its Watch bands are safe for users to wear. “In addition to our own testing, we also work with independent laboratories to conduct rigorous testing and analysis of the materials used in our products, including Apple Watch bands,” the tech giant said. 

Apple has also long claimed that its Watch bands are made from fluoroelastomer, a synthetic rubber that contains fluorine but not harmful PFAS chemicals. The company asserts that fluoroelastomer is safe and thoroughly tested to meet health standards.

Apple’s new fees for app developers have come under fresh scrutiny from the European Union’s antitrust regulators on concerns it could inflate costs for software makers, Bloomberg news reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter.

The regulators have recently circulated a new round of questionnaires focusing on Apple’s new “core technology fee”, the report said.

EU’s fresh scrutiny also comes at a time when Big Tech bosses have urged President-elect Donald Trump to challenge EU’s regulatory scrutiny against American technological firms.

Apple and the European Commission did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment. The company’s shares were down 1.8% in early trading.

The new charge of 0.50 euros ($0.5102) per installed app levied on developers was introduced by the company to comply with the bloc’s Digital Markets Act (DMA).

The DMA imposes what the world’s largest tech platforms can and cannot do, and can impose fines up to 10% of a company’s annual revenue.

Regulators are checking whether the re-jigged levies could be passed on to consumers, or if developers may have to tweak their own business models due to Apple’s new fee structure, the report said.

They also asked whether the firm’s prediction that the new system will help reduce costs for developers is accurate or not.

The Cupertino, California-based company has faced mounting pressure from regulators in the U.S. and Europe over the fees it charges third-party developers distributing apps through the App Store. It says 85% of developers on its App Store do not pay any commission at all.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

Apple on Thursday said that it never used Siri data to build marketing profiles, never made it available for advertising, and never sold it to anyone for any purpose.

Last week, the tech giant last week paid $95 million to settle a class-action lawsuit, which alleged that it recorded their private conversations with Siri and disclosed these conversations to third parties such as advertisers.

“We are constantly developing technologies to make Siri even more private, and will continue to do so,” said the company in a statement.

According to the iPhone maker, they are committed to protecting user data, “and our products and features are built from the ground up with innovative privacy technologies and techniques”.

“Privacy is a foundational part of the design process, driven by principles that include data minimisation, on-device intelligence, transparency and control, and strong security protections that work together to provide users with incredible experiences and peace of mind,” the company stressed.

To protect user privacy, Siri is designed to do as much processing as possible right on a user’s device, allowing for personalised experiences without having to transfer and analyse personal information on Apple servers.

“When a user talks or types to Siri, their request is processed on device whenever possible. For example, when a user asks Siri to read unread messages, or when Siri provides suggestions through widgets and Siri search, the processing is done on the user’s device,” said Apple.

Although Apple attempts to do as much as possible on device, certain features require real-time input from Apple servers.

“And when that’s the case, Siri uses as little data as possible to deliver an accurate result. Siri searches and requests are not associated with your Apple Account,” the company added.

Apple further stated that it does not retain audio recordings of Siri interactions unless users explicitly opt in to help improve Siri, and even then, the recordings are used solely for that purpose.

“Users can easily opt out at any time,” it said.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

Apple Inc.’s iPhone exports from India jumped by a third in the six months through September, underscoring its push to expand manufacturing in the country and reduce dependence on China.

The US company exported nearly $6 billion of India-made iPhones, an increase of a third in value terms from a year earlier, people familiar with the matter said, asking not to be named as the information is private. That puts annual exports on track to surpass the about $10 billion of fiscal 2024.

Apple is expanding its manufacturing network in India at a rapid clip, taking advantage of local subsidies, a skilled workforce and advances in the country’s technological capabilities. India is a crucial part of the company’s effort to lessen its reliance on China, where risks have grown along with Beijing’s tensions with the US.

Three of Apple’s suppliers – Taiwan’s Foxconn Technology Group and Pegatron Corp., and homegrown Tata Electronics – assemble iPhones in southern India. Foxconn’s local unit, based on the outskirts of Chennai, is the top supplier in India and accounts for half of the country’s iPhone exports.

Salt-to-software conglomerate Tata Group’s electronics manufacturing arm exported about $1.7 billion in iPhones from its factory in Karnataka state from April to September, the people said. Tata acquired this unit from Wistron Corp. last year, becoming the first Indian assembler of Apple’s bestselling product.

The dollar figure refers to the devices’ estimated factory gate value, not the retail price. Representatives for Apple declined to comment. Pegatron also declined to comment, while Foxconn and Tata spokespersons didn’t respond to requests for comment.

iPhones account for the bulk of India’s smartphone exports and helped the product category become the top export to the US at $2.88 billion in the first five months of this fiscal year, according to federal trade ministry data. Five years ago, before Apple expanded manufacturing in India, the country’s annual smartphone exports to the US were a meager $5.2 million.

Still, Apple accounts for just under 7% of India’s smartphone market, which is dominated by Chinese brands such as Xiaomi, Oppo and Vivo. And while still a small market for iPhones globally, Apple is making big bets.

The subsidies by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration helped Apple assemble its pricey iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max models, with better cameras and titanium bodies, in India this year. It’s also seeking to open new retail stores, including in the southern tech hub of Bangalore and western city of Pune.

Last year, Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook launched Apple’s first shops in the financial hub of Mumbai and capital New Delhi.

The grand openings, the marketing blitz around the new stores, an aggressive online sales push as well as a rapidly growing middle class that aspires to own Apple products boosted its annual India revenue to a record of $8 billion in the year through March.

What Bloomberg Intelligence Says

India sales could reach $33 billion by 2030, we calculate, fueled primarily by rising middle-class purchasing power and a greater use of payment plans.

– Anurag Rana & Andrew Girard, analysts 

Apple’s rising star in India contrasts with its flagging fortunes in China, whose economy has stuttered following harsh Covid-19 lockdowns and a property crisis. To be sure, Apple relies on China for a bulk of its manufacturing and sales, and India’s unlikely to become its top market anytime soon.

Apple assembled $14 billion of iPhones in India in the fiscal year through March 2024, doubling production and accelerating its drive to diversify beyond China. Of that, it exported roughly $10 billion worth of iPhones.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Apple chief Tim Cook is visiting China. This is the second time that Cook has visited the Asian giant this year. 

Apple operates at the frontiers of technology to create electronic products that are so well-crafted and aspirational that die-hard fans turn sidewalks near Apple stores into campsites ahead of new product arrivals. They have catapulted it to become the world’s most valuable company with a market capitalisation of $3.5 trillion, the same as India’s GDP in 2023. 

Cook’s visit is intriguing and important because Apple is an American native. And the US-China rivalry, especially in cutting-edge science and technology, is irrevocably shaping the 21st century. Bloomberg reported China’s Minister of Industry and Information Technology Jin Zhuanglong asking Cook to invest in innovation, a sensitive subject in Washington, which wants to slow Beijing’s tech march. The superpower competition is so intense that analysts sometimes speculate that it could spiral into war. Yet, the Apple chief vowed to “continue to grow its investments in China and help the high-quality development of the supply chain”. 

China Remains Un-Bypassable

Apple’s overtures show how China, unlike India, remains an un-bypassable economy for global corporations. Which is why it is Apple that is wooing China, not the other way round. How the latter built itself up into a global manufacturing hub is well-documented and India is trying to emulate it in its own way. However, its ability to leverage market and production capacity access to learn and grow with the best in the world is severely limited. 

For instance, Cook considered China so important, both as a manufacturing hub and market, that the company signed a secret deal in 2016 to invest $275 billion locally, including billion-dollar infusions in Chinese startups such as Didi. The Chinese government barely gave any concessions as Apple was fighting off a regulatory onslaught with the olive branch of investment. The pact was an unqualified success. Apple raked in the moolah as it rode the country’s economic boom and citizens’ prosperity. It became the phonemaker’s largest market outside the US, bringing in $378 billion in revenues between 2016 and 2022 even as it helped Chinese companies upgrade their technological capabilities.

In comparison, India bent over backwards to woo iPhone and iPad makers to set up shop here. It slashed import duties on components while keeping out finished products with high levies. This has now led to a situation where an iPhone made in India is cheaper in Dubai compared to Delhi. An iPhone 16 with a memory of 128GB costs about Rs 78,000 in a Dubai Mal,  while it costs Rs 89,000 at the shiny Apple retail store in Delhi that Cook personally flew down to last year and flagged off. It took no time for the arbitrage to spawn a smuggling racket. 

India’s Tortuous Duty Structures

iPhone smuggling may not cause much damage to the exchequer, but warped duty structures and perverse incentives distort the market so much that larger national objectives and development agenda are crumbling. Protectionist tariffs have stunted the growth and innovation in the solar industry. As this three-part series shows, India’s renewable energy programme is weighing heavily on the finances of electricity distribution companies, ordinary consumers, and, ultimately, taxpayers. State-owned public distribution companies have accumulated losses of Rs 6.77 lakh crore. 

Indian solar energy firms find it more profitable to import photovoltaic cells from China and assemble modules to ship to other markets as well as sell to local users. High import duties on modules but low levies on cells ensure wide margins for module makers and high costs for power distributors and end consumers.  

Relying On Just Arbitrage

Such policies also have wider, unintended consequences. For instance, small manufacturers (read assemblers) use imported Chinese components in white-labelled goods and own brands to sell in regional markets. One such Maharashtra-based entrepreneur with a topline of about Rs 75 crore says that his products enjoy good margins and give bigger companies a run for their money. He keeps costs low by managing sales, operations, procurement and logistics, all by himself. Levies are fickle and an upward revision will squeeze margins and he does not want to risk raising costs by hiring specialists. That means the basis of his success is neither technological innovation nor organisational efficiency but arbitrage. It also means the duty structure intended to boost local manufacturing and job creation is merely promoting product assembly while generating few jobs. 

Earlier this month, the Tata Group-owned plant in Tamil Nadu that makes back panels for older models of the iPhone caught fire. The unit is the only producer of the critical component, forcing iPhone maker Foxconn as well as the Tata Group (it assembles older models at another unit) to source the parts from China to meet global demand in peak festival season. Bloomberg reports that business was a key factor even in achieving a breakthrough in India-China border talks.

Why China Is Pacing Ahead

When Cook signed the secret deal in 2016, Apple vowed to localise component sourcing and stitch up deals with Chinese software firms, collaborate on technology with Chinese universities and directly invest in Chinese tech companies until 2022. It also committed to building research and development centres and renewable energy projects, The Information reported in 2021.

To be sure, Apple was not the only US company to sign such a deal. Microsoft and Cisco signed similar deals that helped local R&D and innovation. The ecosystem they helped build no doubt contributed to bolstering the technological prowess of Chinese manufacturing. But, meanwhile, homegrown companies also developed their own expertise and breakthroughs. 

Chinese scientists have already built an electrolyzer that can directly split seawater to produce hydrogen. A Beijing-based energy startup Betavolt claimed in January this year that it had built a commercially viable coin-sized nuclear battery that can power a mobile phone for 50 years. In 2023, the number of SMEs producing new and unique products using special and sophisticated technologies exceeded 70,000, according to the Report on the Work of the Government presented at the 14th National People’s Congress. To compare, the number of technology SMEs in India is just over 10,000, as per Nasscom. Most of them are in software and do work for larger firms. This is not to say that there are no Indian companies doing advanced research and innovation. But they are few and far between, and are often starved of capital. Tata Sons at 207 is the only Indian company in the 2024 Patent 300 list, an annual global ranking of innovators. 

Indian Firms Need To Value Innovation

China offers liberal tax incentives to manufacturing companies and SMEs if they invest in R&D. India, too, offers tax breaks up to 150%, but it’s mainly used by Global Capacity Centres (GCC) of foreign companies because even large Indian firms rarely foster a culture of innovation. The R&D tax break is one of the reasons, apart from the availability of cheap, high-quality talent, for the mushrooming of GCCs (over 1,600 now) in India. The knowledge and patents created, however, do not belong here. 

Indian planning often tends to be short-termist. The government needs to holistically reassess its incentive structures to make the local industry truly independent and competitive in the long run. 

(Dinesh Narayanan is a Delhi-based journalist and author of ‘The RSS And The Making Of The Deep Nation’.)

Disclaimer: These are the personal opinions of the author

Apple chief Tim Cook is visiting China. This is the second time that Cook has visited the Asian giant this year. 

Apple operates at the frontiers of technology to create electronic products that are so well-crafted and aspirational that die-hard fans turn sidewalks near Apple stores into campsites ahead of new product arrivals. They have catapulted it to become the world’s most valuable company with a market capitalisation of $3.5 trillion, the same as India’s GDP in 2023. 

Cook’s visit is intriguing and important because Apple is an American native. And the US-China rivalry, especially in cutting-edge science and technology, is irrevocably shaping the 21st century. Bloomberg reported China’s Minister of Industry and Information Technology Jin Zhuanglong asking Cook to invest in innovation, a sensitive subject in Washington, which wants to slow Beijing’s tech march. The superpower competition is so intense that analysts sometimes speculate that it could spiral into war. Yet, the Apple chief vowed to “continue to grow its investments in China and help the high-quality development of the supply chain”. 

China Remains Un-Bypassable

Apple’s overtures show how China, unlike India, remains an un-bypassable economy for global corporations. Which is why it is Apple that is wooing China, not the other way round. How the latter built itself up into a global manufacturing hub is well-documented and India is trying to emulate it in its own way. However, its ability to leverage market and production capacity access to learn and grow with the best in the world is severely limited. 

For instance, Cook considered China so important, both as a manufacturing hub and market, that the company signed a secret deal in 2016 to invest $275 billion locally, including billion-dollar infusions in Chinese startups such as Didi. The Chinese government barely gave any concessions as Apple was fighting off a regulatory onslaught with the olive branch of investment. The pact was an unqualified success. Apple raked in the moolah as it rode the country’s economic boom and citizens’ prosperity. It became the phonemaker’s largest market outside the US, bringing in $378 billion in revenues between 2016 and 2022 even as it helped Chinese companies upgrade their technological capabilities.

In comparison, India bent over backwards to woo iPhone and iPad makers to set up shop here. It slashed import duties on components while keeping out finished products with high levies. This has now led to a situation where an iPhone made in India is cheaper in Dubai compared to Delhi. An iPhone 16 with a memory of 128GB costs about Rs 78,000 in a Dubai Mal,  while it costs Rs 89,000 at the shiny Apple retail store in Delhi that Cook personally flew down to last year and flagged off. It took no time for the arbitrage to spawn a smuggling racket. 

India’s Tortuous Duty Structures

iPhone smuggling may not cause much damage to the exchequer, but warped duty structures and perverse incentives distort the market so much that larger national objectives and development agenda are crumbling. Protectionist tariffs have stunted the growth and innovation in the solar industry. As this three-part series shows, India’s renewable energy programme is weighing heavily on the finances of electricity distribution companies, ordinary consumers, and, ultimately, taxpayers. State-owned public distribution companies have accumulated losses of Rs 6.77 lakh crore. 

Indian solar energy firms find it more profitable to import photovoltaic cells from China and assemble modules to ship to other markets as well as sell to local users. High import duties on modules but low levies on cells ensure wide margins for module makers and high costs for power distributors and end consumers.  

Relying On Just Arbitrage

Such policies also have wider, unintended consequences. For instance, small manufacturers (read assemblers) use imported Chinese components in white-labelled goods and own brands to sell in regional markets. One such Maharashtra-based entrepreneur with a topline of about Rs 75 crore says that his products enjoy good margins and give bigger companies a run for their money. He keeps costs low by managing sales, operations, procurement and logistics, all by himself. Levies are fickle and an upward revision will squeeze margins and he does not want to risk raising costs by hiring specialists. That means the basis of his success is neither technological innovation nor organisational efficiency but arbitrage. It also means the duty structure intended to boost local manufacturing and job creation is merely promoting product assembly while generating few jobs. 

Earlier this month, the Tata Group-owned plant in Tamil Nadu that makes back panels for older models of the iPhone caught fire. The unit is the only producer of the critical component, forcing iPhone maker Foxconn as well as the Tata Group (it assembles older models at another unit) to source the parts from China to meet global demand in peak festival season. Bloomberg reports that business was a key factor even in achieving a breakthrough in India-China border talks.

Why China Is Pacing Ahead

When Cook signed the secret deal in 2016, Apple vowed to localise component sourcing and stitch up deals with Chinese software firms, collaborate on technology with Chinese universities and directly invest in Chinese tech companies until 2022. It also committed to building research and development centres and renewable energy projects, The Information reported in 2021.

To be sure, Apple was not the only US company to sign such a deal. Microsoft and Cisco signed similar deals that helped local R&D and innovation. The ecosystem they helped build no doubt contributed to bolstering the technological prowess of Chinese manufacturing. But, meanwhile, homegrown companies also developed their own expertise and breakthroughs. 

Chinese scientists have already built an electrolyzer that can directly split seawater to produce hydrogen. A Beijing-based energy startup Betavolt claimed in January this year that it had built a commercially viable coin-sized nuclear battery that can power a mobile phone for 50 years. In 2023, the number of SMEs producing new and unique products using special and sophisticated technologies exceeded 70,000, according to the Report on the Work of the Government presented at the 14th National People’s Congress. To compare, the number of technology SMEs in India is just over 10,000, as per Nasscom. Most of them are in software and do work for larger firms. This is not to say that there are no Indian companies doing advanced research and innovation. But they are few and far between, and are often starved of capital. Tata Sons at 207 is the only Indian company in the 2024 Patent 300 list, an annual global ranking of innovators. 

Indian Firms Need To Value Innovation

China offers liberal tax incentives to manufacturing companies and SMEs if they invest in R&D. India, too, offers tax breaks up to 150%, but it’s mainly used by Global Capacity Centres (GCC) of foreign companies because even large Indian firms rarely foster a culture of innovation. The R&D tax break is one of the reasons, apart from the availability of cheap, high-quality talent, for the mushrooming of GCCs (over 1,600 now) in India. The knowledge and patents created, however, do not belong here. 

Indian planning often tends to be short-termist. The government needs to holistically reassess its incentive structures to make the local industry truly independent and competitive in the long run. 

(Dinesh Narayanan is a Delhi-based journalist and author of ‘The RSS And The Making Of The Deep Nation’.)

Disclaimer: These are the personal opinions of the author