Apple’s ambitions to make its phones in India could soon become a reality. The tech giant is set to start assembling its mid-range device, the iPhone SE, in the southern Indian city of Bengaluru in the coming months, according to a report Friday.
“Apple Inc will in the coming months start assembling its lower-priced iPhone SE models at a contract manufacturer’s plant in Bengaluru,” an industry source told Reuters.
India is the world’s fastest growing smartphone market, where Apple sales have crossed $1 billion. Setting up a manufacturing plant in the country may not only help Apple offer better pricing to Indian consumers, it could also create an alternative manufacturing destination for the company, which is witnessing a slowdown in sales in China.
Apple’s manufacturing partner, Wistron Corp., is in the process of setting up a plant in Bengaluru, where it is eventually expected to produce 300,000 to 400,000 handsets, an Economic Times report said Friday.
India already has manufacturers such Samsung, Vivo and Xiaomi making their phones in the country.
The Reuters report, however, only mentions the assembling of the device and not manufacturing, which would need Apple to have a cluster of suppliers available for making all the components of the device.
The Indian government has incentivized Apple to manufacture in the country by relaxing requirements such as the need for 30 percent components to be sourced from Indian manufacturers, but has stopped short of offering the tech giant concessions such as a 15-year tax holiday on imports of components and equipment, which it had asked for.
A meeting between the company and government officials took place on Jan. 25 to discuss the possibilities of manufacturing in India.
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