Apple fights to free iPhone shipments stuck in India

Apple is facing a battle to free shipments that are being held up at the Indian port of Chennai, after the country fortified the security of imports from China following the current growing tensions among the two nations. This dispute has had an impact on Apple suppliers such as Foxconn. Though shipments are starting to get cleared, it is unclear how many electronic parts or smartphones are in them. So far, Apple has not commented on this situation.

According to a report by Reuters, the customs officers at the Southern Indian port have held back more than 150 shipments of electronic devices and smartphones from China. Major corporations like Apple and Dell have been battling to free held up electronics.

Apple shipments stuck at Indian port

This hold up has suspended operations at factories owned by Apple supplier Foxconn in India. According to the report, hundreds of workers have had no work to do this week as shipments have been delayed. Many workers stayed in their dorms due to the lack of tasks. This whole situation has reportedly put Foxconn “in a very bad state” according to sources. People familiar with the situation commented:

“While several companies such as Apple and Dell have been battling to free stuck shipments, hundreds of employees at Taiwanese contract manufacturer Foxconn’s two plants in the south had no major work to do this week as shipments were delayed, sources said.”

Though some of the shipments are slowly being released now, it is still unclear how many electronic parts were in the cargo.

Indian Finance Ministry did not acknowledge this issue. However, two officials at the Indian customs department said the inspection measures were temporary and will ease soon. One government official said that:

“We cannot keep checking 100% of shipments forever … Shipments of non-Chinese companies being impacted will be cleared on priority”.

China’s Commerce Ministry commented on Thursday that he hopes that India would correct its prejudicial actions toward Chinese companies immediately. In another containing measure, recently, India banned more than 50 Chinese mobile apps amid the border crisis between the two countries.

Among other issues, 2020 is turning out to be a difficult year for Apple. The company is also dealing with an antitrust investigation by the EU, developers are accusing it of anti-competitive behavior and the New York Times withdrew it publishing partnership with Apple News.