Thread

1. ramshanker · 1790428677 · focus · HN ↗

   Happy to hear India got mentioned by the same executive during that conversation. We are just started buying from them. I went to Semicon India 2026, held in delhi last week. The energy was amazing. Really pleasant. all big names including ASML.

   1. roenxi · 1790431375 · focus · HN ↗

      It's is heartening looking at a country like India and thinking that it only seems to be a little behind China on the same trajectory. The little flashes of news as they start settling in to more interesting and high tech industries. Whatever good or evil comes out of their growing geopolitical power at least that is another billion people with a clear enough path to wealth and prosperity.

      1. rayiner · 1790461083 · focus · HN ↗

         India is more than a little behind China. Which is depressing, considering that the two countries were equal in GDP per capita as recently as 1990: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;m.thewire.in&#x2F;article&#x2F;economy&#x2F;from-1960-to-1990-india-and-china-were-at-par-how-did-it-then-overtake-us" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;m.thewire.in&#x2F;article&#x2F;economy&#x2F;from-1960-to-1990-india...

         1. pixelatedindex · 1790468361 · focus · HN ↗

            They kinda did that to themselves, but it&#x27;s slowly changing. My partner&#x27;s iPhone 16 is made in India. They really do lack waste management infrastructure though, and it&#x27;s pretty crucial for this type of manufacturing. They should also borrow the regional concentration of industries that China has done, it really does make things more efficient.

            1. ANighRaisin · 1790474772 · focus · HN ↗

               The phones are not made in india. Their final assembly step is in India while the grand majority is in China.

               1. kennywinker · 1790495376 · focus · HN ↗

                  “Made in” has no clean and clear meaning, because our world is so interconnected that everything of sufficient complexity is made from parts that are made from parts that are made in other places.

                  The iPhones that are “made in india” contain sub-assemblies that are made in china, that contain chips that are made in taiwan, made of metals that were mined in africa, wrapped in plastics derived from middle east oil.

                  1. servo_sausage · 1790508752 · focus · HN ↗

                     In this case, the motivation to finish a product in India is mostly about tariff bypassing; with the final assembly being pretty minimal. Not quite putting the badge on, but close.

                     A good metric is the difference in value between the precursor and the final product; for most Indian phone production, it&#x27;s less than 1%. This is also a big reason why Indian export headlines are a bit silly; they never account for the increased import associated with the high value components.

                     Unclear if this will change going forward; there are some companies doing a higher proportion of the value chain in India, and some big incentives... But to me it&#x27;s unlikely.

                     1. kennywinker · 1790526872 · focus · HN ↗

                        &gt; the motivation to finish a product in India is mostly about tariff bypassing

                        I don’t think that’s the whole story. Apple started making phones in india in 2017, back when the tariff situation was merely a twinkle in epstein’s best friend’s eye. I think back then it was about general supply chain diversity, more than tariffs specifically.

                        By 2024 they were making 36 million iPhones in India, you don’t get to that capacity if you start in november, after the election. Way I see it india was the backup system, and tariffs are the reason they switches hard to the backup system - not the reason they built the backup system in the first place.

                        &gt; A good metric is the difference in value between the precursor and the final product;

                        I agree, that’s a useful metric, especially in this case. But it’s also not perfect. E.g. it’s easy to have a &gt;50% made in USA product if all the parts are made in china but the last assembly step takes time. Labour in the US is more expensive, so 5-10min of clicking parts together can easily cost more than the parts themselves.

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