Apple Inc will manufacture iPhone 14 in India
Categories: Technology
Apple Inc willmanufacture iPhone 14 in India
Apple Inc.will make its iPhone 14 in India, the company said on Monday, as manufacturersshift production from China amid geopolitical tensions and pandemicrestrictions that have disrupted supply chains for many industries.
“The newiPhone 14 lineup introduces new technologies and important safetycapabilities. We’re excited to be manufacturing iPhone 14 in India,” Apple said in a statement.
Appleunveiled its latest line-up of iPhones earlier this month. They will haveimproved cameras, faster processors and longer lasting batteries at the sameprices as last year’s models.
Indiais the world’s second-largest smartphone market after China but Apple iPhonesales have struggled to capture a large share of the market against cheapersmartphones from competitors.
Theannouncement from the Cupertino, California-based company dovetails with PrimeMinister Narendra Modi’s push for local manufacturing, which has been a keygoal for his government ever since he took office in 2014.
The techcompany has bet big on India, where it first began manufacturing its iPhone SEin 2017 and has since continued to assemble a number of iPhone models there.Apple opened its online store for India two years ago, but the pandemic hasdelayed plans for a flagship store in India, according to local media reports.
The latestmodel will be shipped out by Foxconn, a major iPhone assembler, whosefacilities are on the outskirts of Chennai, a city in southern India.
“Applehas been trying to diversify its supply chain for a while, but these effortshave grown in the last two years over trade sanctions between the U.S. andChina,” said SanyamChaurasia, an analyst at Canalys.
Last year,the tech giant manufactured around 7 million iPhones in India. This news islikely to significantly increase India-made Apple smartphones, he added.
He said theplan to make more iPhones in India may also lead Apple to drop its prices forthe Indian market, making it more competitive. “You can adopt a moreaggressive pricing strategy if you manufacture locally,” Chaurasia said.
Othercompanies are keeping or expanding manufacturing in China to serve the domesticmarket while shifting export-oriented work to other countries due to risingwages and other costs, as well as the difficulty for foreign executives tovisit China due to anti-COVID-19 travel restrictions.