Apple has tapped manufacturer Wistron as the first major supplier in India for this year's iPhone 8, following multiple reports that the company has been looking into manufacturing its products locally in the country. According to a new report from DigiTimes, Wistron will become the first original equipment manufacturer for 2017 iPhones, while Foxconn and a collection of other suppliers are being eyed as back up OEMs "if demand increases."

iphone-8
In a report by The Times of India last month, Apple was said to be looking into building an iPhone manufacturing plant in Bangalore, India with Wistron as a partner. That plant is believed to have production up and running by April and be a major contributor to the Indian iPhone supply chain by the end of 2017.

In today's DigiTimes report, Wistron is specifically mentioned to have expanded smartphone production capacity in both India and China.

Apple has reportedly selected Wistron to be the first OEM in India for new iPhones to be launched in 2017, while Foxconn Electronics and other makers will become second OEMs if demand increases. In preparation for OEM production, Wistron has expanded smartphone production capacity in Kunshan, eastern China, and in India. Wistron chairman and CEO Simon Lin declined to comment.

Apple has been attempting to increase its presence in India throughout the past year, most recently looking into manufacturing its products locally, while also creating a new distribution center in India to consolidate its logistics and supply chain.

The company asked for tax concessions from the Indian government so it could get its facilities up and running at a smoother pace, but it was denied such benefits earlier this month. Still, IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said that India will keep an "open mind" for any future incentive requests from Apple.

Tags: India, Wistron
Related Forum: iPhone

Top Rated Comments

magbarn Avatar
94 months ago
See how quickly Apple sets up shop building iPhones in a country that forces them to do it. India, China, and Brazil get away with protectionist tariffs and laws.... meanwhile the moment the US tries to do something similar to bring back manufacturing here we're quickly branded as trying to start a trade war!
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Aman_5ingh Avatar
94 months ago
I think most of you heavily underestimate high-end phone sales in India, because of the low average income and high percentage of rural population with limited access to Internet, and then casually joke about the lack of sanitary facilities.

28% of India's population lives in urban areas. Although I believe a majority of this subset invests in cheap smartphones from Xiaomi, Motorola, Lenovo, Asus and Le, iPhones appear to be commonplace in most metropolitan cities like Delhi, Bangalore, Mumbai and Chennai. The major competition for Apple and Samsung here is OnePlus, that provides most of the features at around the $450 price-point and is the go-to option for the 20-something. That's where Apple might have to compete. They already enjoy a considerable share of the high-end market, and one can spot several dozens of iPhone 6/6s/7 or their plus models in a daily commute. Lest you guys forget, everyone's paying almost $900-$1200 for the most recent iPhone, because of the absurd mark-up in price in a country where incomes are much lower than the US.

This cumulative 1-2% of the population that invests in $450+ devices is all that Apple would want to target at this moment - almost 25 million customers. Making them cheaper and closer to their US prices would help quite a bit, as Apple already enjoys a 'expensive for no reason' reputation around here.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
RickeshPatel Avatar
94 months ago
exactly! India is one of the worst country in terms of protectionism. And it is unfair that US has to suck it up without imposing some count measures.
Get this... only 3% of India's population pays income tax. They have to raise tax revenue somehow. Everything you buy has tax included in the price you see. The people that can afford high end goods have their money stashed up.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
LordQ Avatar
94 months ago
I like that iPhone 8 render :)
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

reset password request iphone

Warning: Apple Users Targeted in Phishing Attack Involving Rapid Password Reset Requests

Tuesday March 26, 2024 4:34 pm PDT by
Phishing attacks taking advantage of Apple's password reset feature have become increasingly common, according to a report from KrebsOnSecurity. Multiple Apple users have been targeted in an attack that bombards them with an endless stream of notifications or multi-factor authentication (MFA) messages in an attempt to cause panic so they'll respond favorably to social engineering. An...
maxresdefault

Apple to Launch New iPad Pro and iPad Air Models in May

Thursday March 28, 2024 11:07 am PDT by
Apple will introduce new iPad Pro and iPad Air models in early May, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Gurman previously suggested the new iPads would come out in March, and then April, but the timeline has been pushed back once again. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Apple is working on updates to both the iPad Pro and iPad Air models. The iPad Pro models will...
Generic iOS 18 Feature Purple

iOS 18: What to Expect From 'Biggest' Update in iPhone's History

Wednesday March 27, 2024 11:10 am PDT by
At least some Apple software engineers continue to believe that iOS 18 will be the "biggest" update in the iPhone's history, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Below, we recap rumored features and changes for the iPhone. "The iOS 18 update is expected to be the most ambitious overhaul of the iPhone's software in its history, according to people working on the upgrade," wrote Gurman, in a r...
maxresdefault

Apple Announces WWDC 2024 Event for June 10 to 14

Tuesday March 26, 2024 10:02 am PDT by
Apple today announced that its 35th annual Worldwide Developers Conference is set to take place from Monday, June 10 to Friday, June 14. As with WWDC events since 2020, WWDC 2024 will be an online event that is open to all developers at no cost. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. WWDC 2024 will include online sessions and labs so that developers can learn about new...
apple maps 3d feature

Apple Maps May Gain Custom Routes With iOS 18

Tuesday March 26, 2024 3:10 pm PDT by
Apple may be planning to add support for "custom routes" in Apple Maps in iOS 18, according to code reviewed by MacRumors. Apple Maps does not currently offer a way to input self-selected routes, with Maps users limited to Apple's pre-selected options, but that may change in iOS 18. Apple has pushed an iOS 18 file to its maps backend labeled "CustomRouteCreation." While not much is revealed...
General iOS 17 Feature Orange Purple

Apple Releases Revised Versions of iOS 17.4.1 and iPadOS 17.4.1 With Updated Build Number

Wednesday March 27, 2024 5:59 am PDT by
Apple on late Tuesday released revised versions of iOS 17.4.1 and iPadOS 17.4.1 with an updated build number of 21E237, according to MacRumors contributor Aaron Perris. The updates previously had a build number of 21E236. The revised updates are available for all iPhone and iPad models that are compatible with iOS 17 and iPadOS 17, but they can only be installed via the Finder app on macOS...
applephilschiller

Apple's Phil Schiller Works 80 Hours a Week Overseeing App Store

Wednesday March 27, 2024 2:03 pm PDT by
With the App Store and app ecosystem undergoing major changes in the European Union, The Wall Street Journal today shared a profile on App Store chief Phil Schiller, who is responsible for the App Store. Though Schiller transitioned from marketing chief to "Apple Fellow" in 2020 to take a step back from Apple and spend more time on personal projects and friends, he is reportedly working...