India is the main ingredient of Apple's Pie

India has become a major ingredient in Apple's
secret sauce, and the scale may surprise many. It is estimated
that a third of the $171-billion company's engineering staff is
Indian, and that a large and increasing proportion of its enterprise
software, service and support work is done by Indian IT vendors.
Apple filed 1,750 H-1B applications during the 10-year period
2001 to 2010, but the number increased sharply to 2,800 during
2011-13. US-based HfS Research that compiled the data says the
majority of the H-1Bs would be Indians, indicating that the
iPhone and iPad maker's dependence on Indian engineers has
risen significantly in recent years.
"About one-third of Apple's engineering headcount consists of
Indians who are either on H-1B or on Green Card," said Pareekh
Jain, principal analyst at HfS Research.
HfS arrives at that conclusion looking at figures Apple disclosed
in 2012, when it said it had 47,000 people working directly for it in
the US, of which 7,700 were customer support operators, and
27,350 worked retail in Apple Stores, leaving about 12,000 as
engineers, designers, marketers and other white-collar tech
product workers.
HfS Research also finds that Apple works with at least five India-
based IT vendors — including four large firms and one small firm
— and the scope of the work they do has been rising.