Apple has reportedly started manufacturing its current flagship iPhone 11 series at its contract manufacturer Foxconn’s plant near Chennai in India. This is the first such instance where the Cupertino based tech giant is assembling its top of the line devices in India.
It is also being said that the first lot of devices manufactured in this factory has been shipped to the retailers already. Though this is a smaller lot that has been prepared, however, it is being said that the company is looking to scale up the production from the Indian factory in a phased manner.
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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://t.co/yjmKYeFCpLJuly 24, 2020
Will iPhones get cheaper in India?
Though Apple has not officially confirmed the news, Commerce and Industry minister Piyush Goyal’s tweet more or less confirmed the same.
Apart from Foxconn, another contract manufacturer, Wistron has been assembling older generation iPhones in India. Phones like iPhone SE, iPhone 6s, iPhone XR were being manufactured in this plant. With Foxconn now manufacturing the flagship phones, the company is set to save the 22% import duty that was payable to the Indian Government for importing pre-manufactured smartphones.
However, this saving may not translate into iPhones getting cheaper for Indian buyers at least for now. Since the actual variation will be dependent on the parts that are manufactured in India as well as on the material that still needs to be imported from countries.
The move is extremely important citing the ongoing trade war between the US and China which has forced various companies to move their production facilities out of China. Recently, Foxconn had announced its plans to invest $1 billion in its Indian operations. Another Apple partner like Pegatron is also looking to invest and to start operations in India, it has already registered a subsidiary in India.
The Indian government that had also announced a $6.6 billion incentive scheme to lure companies looking to make India their manufacturing hub may also see this news as a major achievement amid the growing tensions with China.
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