Apple contract manufacturer Hon Hai Precision (Foxconn) was tipped to shift some production of the vendor’s latest flagship from China to India faster than in the past as part of the US vendor’s efforts to reduce reliance on Chinese production, Bloomberg reported.

Sources told the news agency Foxconn pushed suppliers to quickly bring assembly to India, reducing the gap between when production starts in China and then commences in India from six-to-nine months for previous models to two for the latest device, widely tipped to be named the iPhone 14.

The move apparently is part of an effort by Apple to reduce its reliance on China due to the nation’s zero Covid-19 (coronavirus) policy and rising trade tensions with the US.

Apple is expected to unveil the iPhone 14 on 7 September.

In May, The Wall Street Journal suggested Apple was considering increasing output in India and Vietnam after output in China was hit by lockdowns in major cities where Foxconn and other suppliers have production facilities.

Apple started manufacturing its iPhone 13 in India in 2022. It began shifting iPhone production to the country in 2017.