Empowering the country’s “Make in India” campaign, Apple Inc. has decided to manufacture the bestseller, iPhone 11, in India. Commerce and Industry Minister PiyushGoyal shared the scintillating news on Twitter. He wrote, “Significant boost to Make in India! Apple has started manufacturing iPhone 11 in India, bringing a top-of-the-line model for the first time in the country.”
https://twitter.com/PiyushGoyalOffc/status/1286531037204422658
iPhone XR is already being assembled for the past 9 months in India. The top-of-the-line model will be the fourth Apple phone to be made here. Local manufacturing of the device would result in 22% savings on the import duty tax. The technology giant has its factories set up in Bengaluru and Chennai through Foxconn and Wistron respectively. While Foxconn, the leading manufacturer of Apple phones, already has its industry here, Pegatron, the second-largest supplier, has planned to open a plant of its own soon in India. The company has announced that it will be investing a huge amount to cater to the growing demands of Indians.
Prithviraj Chavan, senior Congress party leader former Chief Minister urged the Uddhav Thackeray government to attract Pegatron and woo them to establish their subsidiary in Maharashtra.
Through this, the company aspires to reduce its dependence on China amid the ongoing feud between the US and China.
With over 50 crore smartphone users, India is a potential market for all smart device companies to fuel their profit growth. Samsung has become the second-largest mobile brand in India due to the boycott of Chinese products in the country. As the supply chain for mobiles from companies like Oppo, Realme, and Vivo have stuttered, the local boys have gained a lot of advantage. Lava, Micromax, and others now have a higher chance of gaining their share of customers back, which they had lost to the Chinese competitors. With Jio coming forward to announce its 4G packed smartphones, the market of affordable and locally produced phones is sure to provide a lot of options for the middle-class sections as well.
According to experts, this will help in the “VocalForLocal” campaign started off by the Prime Minister of India to create awareness for local brands and aid them in getting more business.
Foxconn had announced in June that it is deciding on investing around $1 billion to spread its manufacturing units across the country to serve customers better.
Apple took off its manufacturing expedition to India in May 2017 when it made iPhone SE locally in its Wistron plant in Bengaluru. Later, through Foxconn, the giant expanded its units to the other cities of India.
iPhone XR was the most recent (October 2019) phone that was put in place in India. After ditching the manufacture of its older version, Apple said that it is going to start manufacturing the 2020 version of iPhone SE in India at one of its 3 facilities in India.
The multimillion company stops giving updates for its older phones to allow consumers to buy the newer variants rather than staying content after updating their old handsets.
