Apple’s plan to create airpods in India has hit a speed, and is to do it with a major material that is mostly controlled by China. According to a report by Moneycontrol, The issue lies in the supply of the disproce, a rare earth metal is used in small magnets that helps airpods to function. Foxconn, the company in its Telangana factory is the company to make these airpods in India, which is struggling to get this material sufficient. And this is not due to internal mismanagement. The problem is large, and it is political. China has recently tightened export regulations on dysproosium and other rare earth materials, and it makes things difficult for companies working outside the country.

This situation is making more complex that it comes just after Foxconn’s 300 Chinese engineers are excluded from their Indian features. Therefore, time has surprised some people whether the issue of this supply is united or something more deliberately. Either way, it belongs to Foxconn. As MoneycontrolThe company flagged off the issue to the Telangana government and several central ministries, including Electronics and Information Technology (Meity), Department for Industry and International Trade (DPIIT) and even the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO). Now everyone is aware, but solving it can depend on how the conversation between India and China progresses from here.

With that, despite the trouble, the production of Apple’s airpods in India has not stopped completely. The report further mentions that both Apple and FoxConn had already predicted some months before these problems and managed to make a buffer. So, for now, they are able to keep walking somehow. It is also the term that Foxconn is working with Indian and Chinese governments to obtain something called a final user certificate, which is essential by China before it can allow the export of such sensitive materials.

Neil Shah of Counterpoint Research told Moneycontrol This situation shows how much the technical world is still dependent on China for rare earth materials. And that is right. Dysproosium and other rare earth play an important role in metal electronics. Without them, it is difficult to maintain the quality of the same product.

So far, Foxcon’s Indian unit contributes to only a small portion of Apple’s global airpods production. But it was seen as an important part of Apple’s efforts to reduce its dependence on China. This supply gives an advantage to other partners of the supply roadblock apple, such as both Luxshare and Goertek have production facilities in Vietnam.

There is a concern that such disruption can damage India’s electronics manufacturing dreams for a long time, especially under the PLI scheme. If the lack of material continues or deteriorates, it can also affect pricing, deadline and possibly product features.