Apple's target for casings that fail to pass quality control is zero and Chinese suppliers were getting extremely close. A former Apple engineer said that the Indians had a habit of not being as enthusastic to be working for Apple as the Chinese.

The Financial Times reports that poor yields is a key challenge faced by Apple in attempting to replicate its Chinese supply chain in India: "At an iPhone casings factory in Hosur run by Indian conglomerate Tata, one of Apple's suppliers, just about one out of every two components coming off the production line is in good enough shape to eventually be sent to Foxconn, Apple's assembly partner for building iPhones, according to a person familiar with the matter. This 50 per cent 'yield' fares badly compared with Apple's goal for zero defects. Two people that have worked in Apple's offshore operations said the factory is on a plan towards improving proficiency but the road ahead is long."

Tech entrepreneur and academic Vivek Wadhwa said that it will likely take three years or so for Indian suppliers to be capable of the kind of volume production needed to make a noticeable dent in Chinese production.

Apple needed to adapt when it comes to dealing with the bureaucratic government. Wadhwa  suggested Apple learn the art of jugaad -- a way of 'making do' or transcending obstacles. 'Because everything in India is an obstacle.'