Bharat FIH rejigs board, eyes spot in Apple supply chain

Foxconn group company Bharat FIH (BFIH) has rejigged its board of directors in an overhaul after most of its board members resigned last year and is looking to be a part of Apple’s supply chain, multiple people aware of the development said.

It has roped in UExcelerate cofounder Payal Koul Mirakhur and chartered accountant Arun Todarwal as independent directors.

The board – which also consists of chairman Hui Chung Chen, Yu Yang Chih and Kam Wah Danny Tam as non-executive directors, and managing director Abraham Joseph – is looking to steer the electronics manufacturing services (EMS) company in a different direction after it hit a roadblock due to a drastic drop in orders from its primary client Xiaomi, people cited above said.


The board is getting the company to pivot its strategy by getting Bharat FIH not to compete in the EMS space and instead focus on being a part of the Apple supply chain, they said.

“They are getting into equipment servicing and maintenance for Apple suppliers,” one of the people cited above said.

“They have been working with Foxconn Hon Hai (Apple's largest supplier) at the Chennai and Bengaluru facilities as well as Pegatron and Wistron (which are now part of Tata Electronics – another key Apple supplier),” the person said. “They are looking to be an independent service provider to these players and have been doing this work for about a year now.”

He explained that some key equipment in these units need periodic maintenance, be it regular wear and tear or any issue with the functionality. Now, Bharat FIH has people trained to look into servicing of these equipment stationed at the Apple suppliers’ sites, he added.

Industry insiders said the company could also look at being a beneficiary under the newly launched production-linked incentives (PLI) scheme for electronics components.

Queries sent to Bharat FIH, Foxconn and Apple remained unanswered as of press time Wednesday.

ET had reported in July 2024 that Bharat FIH was weathering a rough spell, having lost several independent directors. The company may also shutter its manufacturing facility in Sri City, Andhra Pradesh, due to a massive drop in orders from key client Xiaomi, the report had said.

The ripples within the firm were building up since country head Josh Foulger's exit in January 2024. Foulger had helped the Taiwanese manufacturer and its customers, including Xiaomi, expand operations in India.

“They had no option but to set up a new board because people resigned,” one person aware of the developments told ET. “Bharat FIH is not hiring any senior people and are winding down several operations. A few people who are old hands at Bharat FIH like Abraham Joseph have been elevated.”

In July, ET had reported that InterGlobe Aviation chairman Venkataramani Sumantran, Sify Technologies cofounder Ramaraj R, and former IT and telecom secretary Aruna Sundararajan had all exited the Bharat FIH Board.

Meanwhile, Taiwanese contract manufacturer Foxconn has been aggressively expanding its India operations. On Monday, ET had reported that the company was looking to increase its output of iPhones from its India facilities from about 12 million last year to 25-30 million by the end of this year.

But little of that work came Bharat FIH’s way.

The company was extremely dependent on Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi and was unable to keep up with the competition.

Experts had said at the time that Bharat FIH was unable to pivot fast enough to tap other sectors. The company primarily made devices for Xiaomi and some volumes for Nokia, but didn’t qualify for the PLI scheme as the unit value of the devices manufactured was less than Rs 15,000.

Additionally, rival Dixon, with PLI benefits, gave it strong competition. But primarily, the company was severely impacted by Xiaomi's regulatory run-ins with the Indian government. It was also hit by the Chinese brand expanding its electronics manufacturing services partner base in India to include the likes of DBG and Padget.