According to Bloomberg, Foxconn has been telling Chinese workers to pack for the past two months. More than 300 have already left, and the remaining crew is mostly Taiwanese support staff. Neither Foxconn nor Job’s Mob has had much to say about the whole affair.

No one’s confirming if these workers were sacked or sent to other sites, but the timing is suspicious. Beijing has been making noises about clamping down on skilled labour fleeing the country and is reportedly nudging local governments to restrict exports of tech and expertise to India and Southeast Asia.

Foxconn leaned heavily on experienced Chinese engineers to train its Indian workforce, so this forced retreat is more than a personnel shuffle. While the assembly lines are already running and product quality isn’t expected to nosedive, insiders warn efficiency will take a hit.

That could spell trouble just as Foxconn is gearing up to start mass production on the iPhone 17. China’s manoeuvres are throwing a wrench in Apple's great India pivot.

The US government thinks that all Apple's problems will be solved it if just sets up shop in the US, but this episode just underlines why Job’s Mob can’t make its kit in the US without blowing up the balance sheet.