Indian Government 'Very Happy' to Help Apple Expand Local iPhone Assembly Base

Nov 27, 2017 3:25 am PST by Tim Hardwick

A cabinet minister of the government of India has given the clearest signal yet that the republic is ready to help Apple expand its iPhone manufacturing base in the country and consider its requests for concessions.

Commerce and industry minister Suresh Prabhu was quoted on Sunday by the India Economic Times as saying the state was "very happy" to help Apple in its aims, provided the company makes a formal proposal.


"Let us get a good proposal from them...We will be very happy to receive Apple, one of the top brands in the world. We are willing to find out if there is any difficulty they may face. We will be more than happy to resolve that difficulty. So we will await a formal proposal," Prabhu told PTI in an interview.

Prabhu also reportedly said he was open to calling all state chief ministers who are willing to give Apple the best deal.

The comments come at an important time for Apple as it seeks to expand its manufacturing base in the country. The company has asked state officials for a range of tax and policy changes to help build out its iPhone assembly infrastructure in India, including duty exemptions on components, capital equipment, and consumables for all iPhone assembly and services/repairs for a period of 15 years.

Apple also wants the Indian government to relax rules that require 30 percent of products sold by foreign companies to be manufactured or produced within the country.

iPhone SE handsets have been assembled in India since May by Apple's Taiwanese supplier Wistron, which has reportedly been scouting for additional land in Bangalore to expand its existing facilities. Additionally, a report last week claimed the tentatively named iPhone SE 2 will be assembled exclusively by Wistron at its factories in India.

India recently overtook the U.S. to become the world's second largest smartphone market after China, according to market research conducted by industry analyst Canalys. However, Apple has so far struggled to make a significant dent, mainly because the government levies tariffs on devices manufactured outside the country, but also due to Chinese rivals such as Oppo and Xiaomi offering consumers more affordable high-spec smartphones.

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Tag: India
[ 18 comments ]

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2010mini
50 months ago
I respect India for strong arming Apple and forcing them to build a factory and produce the product there if they want to sell iPhones in that country

America could use a backbone
America chose to offshore low skilled labour. In return they were suppose to use the money saved on infrastructure, education, research and development etc..... instead we squandered billions on stupid wars.
Score: 4 Votes
69Mustang
50 months ago
America chose to offshore low skilled labour. In return they were suppose to use the money saved on infrastructure, education, research and development etc..... instead we squandered billions on stupid wars.
You are conflating the US Government and private industry into one giant entity. The government didn't chose to offshore low skilled labor. That was, and still is private industry. Private industry is not responsible for education or infrastructure in the US. That was, and still is the government. Stupid wars are a partnership between govt and private sector, but that has nothing to do with offshore manufacturing.
Rating: 3 Votes
gnipgnop
50 months ago
India is the Plan B in case China becomes too hostile under Xi.
Rating: 3 Votes
0976235
50 months ago
It would be great if they can reach to the terms so as to allow manufacturing flagship iPhones. The current price is almost >150% of what it is in US. :(
Rating: 1 Votes
macintoshmac
50 months ago
Apple is only doing this so that they can sell those old refurbished iPhones in India. They might just have those assembly there enough to produce iPhone for India and drop the old junks in their country. :D
As your fellow contributor to the population of the world, your reaction ( :D ) seems rather odd. Why would you appreciate Apple dropping old junk in any country?
Rating: 1 Votes
2010mini
50 months ago
If you can go back to your original quote and come up with an explanation anywhere near your comment above, that would be amazing. Remember, my response introduced the aspect of private industry/companies. Your comment only mentioned the government as if it was responsible for everything you wrote. You wrote this:

There's no nuance in that quote. It's all conflated into one America that 1. offshored labor 2. didn't use the money saved from offshore labor on infrastructure, education, or R&D 3. spent money on war. So that I'm clear, my objection wasn't to your reasoning. My objection was to you trying to unify government, business, and if you hadn't forgotten, Wall Street into one entity.
My apologies. You are correct. I am much better having a discussion face to face rather than typing it out online. Especially while in a rush.
Rating: 1 Votes

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