Bharat FIH, Apple iPhone maker Foxconn’s India subsidiary, has set up its first end-to-end Research & Development Centre at the IIT Madras Research Park, Chennai. The new center claims to be among the first R&D facilities in India to design end-to-end 5G devices along with other electronics products.
Bharat FIH, which was formerly known as Rising Stars Mobile India, said that the latest facility leverages IT strength and local talents.
Foxconn’s two units, Bharat FIH and HonHai, have manufacturing facilities in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh states. The Sriperumbur plant in Tamil Nadu state is operated by HonHai to make Apple iPhones, while the separate plant in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh makes smartphones for Xiaomi and HMD among others.
“This R&D centre will offer an end to end services portfolio to customers that includes product design, tooling & moulding, global sourcing and manufacturing services for smartphones and other products and services in the electronics segment,” Bharat FIH said, which is a subsidiary of FIH Mobiles, which is a Foxconn Technology Group Company.
The R&D center, according to the company, will be able to offer tailor made products designed for all current and future technologies for its global and Indian customers. It will operate in industrial, mechanical, hardware and software design domains to help with its customer requirements in product specifications for all electronic products.
Josh Foulger, Country Head and Managing Director, Bharat FIH said that India R&D will capitalize on the company’s manufacturing strengths and collaborate with its global teams under the Foxconn Technology Group in product design, cost optimization, customer experience, sourcing, tooling and manufacturing.
“OEM brands in the electronics sector will have access to our latest technologies and robust designs based on deep consumer insights and assist them in shortening their product development cycles,” Foulger said.
The R&D facility will offer design and product development services, including mechanical design for manufacturability with customised own proprietary CAD/CAM tools that enhances design and product development capabilities.
Besides, the centre has the advantage of carrying out design for commercially manufactured products since it has the flexibility of design and production process to achieve higher quality, lower cost, improved automation and better maintainability, “which will position Bharat FIH as industry leader in technological innovation.”
“In the backdrop of India’s growth, Bharat FIH will forge ahead to be one of the most innovative and customer oriented companies with an end to end product portfolio in Electronics Manufacturing,” the company said in a statement.
Taiwan’s Foxconn is increasing its investments to expand operations in India. It has planned a $1 billion investment to expand Indian factories. The investment, announced late last year, will be made over a period of three years.
Foxconn companies have been approved under various production linked incentive Schemes (PLI) to locally manufacture telecom equipment, IT Hardware and networking products. The company is already exporting iPhones from its India factory to European countries.
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