Apple Inc is reshuffling the management of its international businesses to put a bigger focus on India, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday citing people with knowledge of the matter.

This shift will result in India becoming its own sales region at Apple, the report said.

The iPhone maker, in a recent earnings call, said India had a record quarterly revenue and strong double-digit growth year-over-year.

Apple is promoting its head of India Ashish Chowdhary to replace the recently retired Hugues Asseman, who was in charge of India, West Asia, Mediterranean, East Europe and Africa, according to the report.

Chowdhary will now report directly to Michael Fenger, Apple’s head of product sales, the report added.

Apple did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on the report.

The increased focus on India by the tech giant is not surprising as it has been looking at alternative production sites to diversify from China.

Foxconn, a major supplier of iPhones, has also been employing the same strategy, particularly after the fresh Covid outbreak in China last year which led to the authorities imposing strict lockdowns.

Earlier this year, Union commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal had claimed that Apple Inc is keen to expand its manufacturing base in India and take the nation’s share to 25 per cent of its global manufacturing from a level of 5-7 per cent.

He had also pointed out that the company had launched their recent models from India, reflecting its confidence in the country.

Currently, iPhones are being manufactured by Foxconn, Wistron and Pegatron in India. Earlier this year, there was also a talk that the Tata group is to take over the Bangalore plant of Wistron and that the purchase could be completed by March end.

More recently, Union minister of state for electronics and IT, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, and chief minister of Karnataka Basavaraj Bommai announced that Apple phones would be built in a new 300- acre factory in the state, creating about 1 lakh jobs.