Three employees died of suffocation on Monday evening at the Tata Electronics factory that manufactures Apple’s iPhone in India. The factory is located in Hosur district of Tamil Nadu and manufactures iPhone parts. After the incident, the company and the government have ordered an inquiry. The incident comes at a time when American tech giant Apple is increasing its production in India and reducing it in China. But there have been several incidents before that that have affected Apple’s supply chain.
Apple has steadily increased iPhone production in India since 2017, with Foxconn and Tata being its main contract manufacturers. Increasing production in India is part of Apple’s strategy to reduce its dependence on China and is shifting production to India. Let’s find out one by one the events related to Apple that have happened in India, due to which the company’s supply chain has been affected.
June-July 2026: Data theft from Tata factory
A case of theft of more than 2 lakh files has come to light from the iPhone assembly factory of Tata Electronics in Hosur, Tamil Nadu. The ransomware group posted these files on the dark web. This includes sensitive information from suppliers and pictures of Apple’s iPhone 18 Pro, which was not launched at the time. Following this, Tata restricted its employees’ access to its sensitive systems and enlisted the help of an international consultant to investigate.
June 2026: Warns of taking action against factory over pollution
The Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board has issued a warning to shut down Tata’s iPhone parts factory in Hosur. It was alleged that the wells in the surrounding fields were being contaminated due to the sewage coming out of the factory. However, Tata said an independent investigation found its plants complied with environmental regulations. The company later said the board accepted its replies and stayed further action.
January 2025: Foxconn employee discrimination case
India’s National Human Rights Commission reprimanded labor officials for not properly investigating job discrimination at Foxconn’s iPhone factory. However, a later investigation found that Foxconn was not guilty of any wrongdoing.
November 2024: Accused of not giving employment to married women
Married women were systematically excluded from assembly jobs at Foxconn’s Tamil Nadu factory, a Reuters investigation has found. After this, the company instructed its recruitment agents to remove terms related to age, gender and marital status from job advertisements.
September 2024: Tata factory fire
A fire broke out in the chemical storage area of the Tata Electronics factory in Hosur. Due to which the production of iPhone parts was stopped for several days.
September 2023: Fire at the Pegatron factory
A fire broke out at Pegatron’s factory in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, temporarily halting iPhone assembly.
February 2023: Accident at the Foxlink factory
A fire broke out in the factory of iPhone charger manufacturer Foxlink in Chittoor, Andhra Pradesh. A part of the building collapsed due to the fire. After this the company stopped the production.
December 2021: Workers strike at Foxconn plant
About 250 workers fell ill at a Foxconn factory near Chennai. After this, the employees protested and the factory stopped working for more than three weeks. Later, Apple’s investigation found that the required standards were not being followed at the factory.
December 2020: Employees stage an uproar over non-payment of salaries
Workers ransacked Wistron’s factory in Narsapura, Karnataka, protesting non-payment of salaries. After this the company had to shut down its plant for about three months. Wistron sold its Indian business to the Tata Group in 2023.
It is clear from these incidents that while ramping up iPhone production in India, companies also face challenges such as employee safety, work rules, environment and data security. India is becoming an important market for Apple as an alternative to China, but it will be important for the company to resolve these issues.
