At Foxconn Technology Group’s mobile phone plant in Sri City, in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh, of the nearly 15,000 workers 90% are women who assemble phones for various manufacturers, including Xiaomi. Recently, workers began testing and assembling Apple’s iPhone X, which will be sold in India first and eventually exported worldwide.
Josh Foulger, who runs Foxconn’s India operations, decided to recruit mostly women on the advice of his mother. Foulger made some accommodations in the factory for the workforce such as turning up the air conditioning to 79 degrees Fahrenheit as the women were not used to cooler conditions, and taking care of sanitary hygiene issues by installing sanitary pad dispensers in the washroom. He also arranged for extra security for the female staff and provided buses and dormitory accommodation for those who lived far from the factories. But he says it’s well worth the extra cost because “women work hard and appreciate the chances given to them.”
In Foxconn’s two India factories, there is no visible sign of sweat-shop conditions. Workers there mostly complain about the monotony. To help avoid tedium, the company teaches workers at least 10 skills in the testing, packing, and assembly sections of the line so they can be rotated to different jobs. The daily production target has to be met at all costs. Row upon row of women put together each phone part by part, inspecting each handset for visible defects.
Indians bought more than 140 million smartphones last year, with just 1.7 million sold by Apple, as consumers favored cheaper models from China. India plans to expand its $25 billion phone manufacturing industry to $400 billion by 2024, says Pankaj Mahindroo, who heads the Indian Cellular and Electronics Association. “A substantial portion of it will be for the export market,” he adds.
Last updated: December 26th, 2025
