Foxconn's unit at Devanahalli nearly ready, commercial iPhone shipments expected by June: MB Patil
Bengaluru, May 17 (PTI): Karnataka Minister for Commerce & Industries M B Patil on Saturday said Taiwanese electronics manufacturing giant Foxconn's unit at the Information Technology Investment Region (ITIR) of Devanahalli here is nearly ready for launch, with commercial iPhone shipments expected to begin as early as June.
Foxconn is the iPhone's contract manufacturer.
"This isn't just a manufacturing milestone - it marks a strategic shift. With rising geopolitical and tariff pressures, India is fast becoming Apple's preferred production hub," Patil said in a post on 'X'.
He said this development strengthens Karnataka's position in global manufacturing and opens the door to greater foreign investment - without compromising stakeholder interests.
The minister further said Apple CEO Tim Cook has confirmed that for the June quarter, a majority of iPhones sold in the US will be made in India.
"As a Kannadiga, this is a proud moment. From Mysuru to Cupertino, Karnataka is making global headlines," he added.
The company has acquired 300 acres of land in the ITIR Industrial Area, located in Doddaballapura and Devanahalli Taluk of Bengaluru Rural District.
In his 2025-26 Budget speech, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had said that Foxconn company has started a mobile phone manufacturing plant in Devanahalli Industrial Area with a capital investment of Rs 21,911 crore.
"This company will be provided with an incentive of Rs 6,970 crore by Electronics System Design & Manufacturing (ESDM)," he had said.
ದೇವನಹಳ್ಳಿಯ ಫಾಕ್ಸ್’ಕಾನ್ ಘಟಕವು ಉದ್ಘಾಟನೆಗೆ ಸಿದ್ಧ!
— M B Patil (@MBPatil) May 17, 2025
ದೇವನಹಳ್ಳಿ ಐಟಿಐಆರ್ನಲ್ಲಿ ಇರುವ ಫಾಕ್ಸ್ಕಾನ್ ಘಟಕವು ಉದ್ಘಾಟನೆಗೆ ಸಿದ್ಧವಾಗಿದೆ. ಜೂನ್ ತಿಂಗಳ ಆರಂಭದಲ್ಲಿ ವಾಣಿಜ್ಯ ಐಫೋನ್’ಗಳ ರವಾನೆ ಪ್ರಾರಂಭವಾಗುವ ನಿರೀಕ್ಷೆಯಿದೆ.
ಇದು ಕೇವಲ ಇನ್ನೊಂದು ಉತ್ಪಾದನಾ ಮೈಲಿಗಲ್ಲಲ್ಲ – ಇದು ಒಂದು ಕಾರ್ಯತಂತ್ರದ ಬದಲಾವಣೆಯ ಸಂಕೇತ.… pic.twitter.com/pSD5jfayaB
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Robert Duvall, Oscar-winning actor and 'Godfather' mainstay, dead at 95
Los Angeles (AP): Robert Duvall, the Oscar-winning actor of matchless versatility and dedication whose classic roles included the intrepid consigliere of the first two "Godfather" movies and the over-the-hill country music singer in "Tender Mercies," has died at age 95.
Duvall died “peacefully” at his home Sunday in Middleburg, Virginia, according to an announcement from his publicist and from a statement posted on his Facebook page by his wife, Luciana Duvall.
“To the world, he was an Academy Award-winning actor, a director, a storyteller. To me, he was simply everything,” Luciana Duvall wrote. “His passion for his craft was matched only by his deep love for characters, a great meal, and holding court. For each of his many roles, Bob gave everything to his characters and to the truth of the human spirit they represented."
The bald, wiry Duvall didn't have leading man looks, but few "character actors" enjoyed such a long, rewarding and unpredictable career, in leading and supporting roles, from an itinerant preacher to Josef Stalin.
Beginning with his 1962 film debut as Boo Radley, the reclusive neighbor in "To Kill a Mockingbird," Duvall created a gallery of unforgettable portrayals.
They earned him seven Academy Award nominations and the best actor prize for "Tender Mercies," which came out in 1983. He also won four Golden Globes, including one for playing the philosophical cattle-drive boss in the 1989 miniseries "Lonesome Dove," a role he often cited as his favorite.
In 2005, Duvall was awarded a National Medal of Arts.
He had been acting for some 20 years when "The Godfather," released in 1972, established him as one of the most in-demand performers of Hollywood. He had made a previous film, "The Rain People," with Francis Coppola, and the director chose him to play Tom Hagen in the mafia epic that featured Al Pacino and Marlon Brando among others.
Duvall was a master of subtlety as an Irishman among Italians, rarely at the centre of a scene, but often listening and advising in the background, an irreplaceable thread through the saga of the Corleone crime family.
“Stars and Italians alike depend on his efficiency, his tidying up around their grand gestures, his being the perfect shortstop on a team of personality sluggers,” wrote the critic David Thomson. “Was there ever a role better designed for its actor than that of Tom Hagen in both parts of The Godfather?'”
In another Coppola film, "Apocalypse Now," Duvall was wildly out front, the embodiment of deranged masculinity as Lieutenant Colonel Bill Kilgore, who with equal vigour enjoyed surfing and bombing raids on the Viet Cong. Duvall required few takes for one of the most famous passages in movie history, barked out on the battlefield by a bare-chested, cavalry-hatted Kilgore: "I love the smell of napalm in the morning. You know, one time we had a hill bombed, for 12 hours. When it was all over, I walked up. We didn't find one of em, not one stinkin' dink body.
"The smell, you know that gasoline smell, the whole hill. Smelled like — victory.”
Coppola once commented about Duvall: "Actors click into character at different times — the first week, third week. Bobby's hot after one or two takes."
