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Apple Partnering With Foxconn to Build High-End iPhone Models in India Next Year
Following the iPhone SE and iPhone 6s, Apple will begin assembling its high-end iPhones in India sometime in 2019, according to a new report today by Reuters. Instead of Wistron, Foxconn will build the high-end iPhones, and these models are said to be the most expensive flagship devices offered by Apple, including the iPhone X family.
Local sources state that the work will occur in Foxconn's plant in Sriperumbudur town in the southern state of Tamil Nadu. Foxconn will reportedly invest 25 billion Indian rupees ($356 million) to expand the plant, part of which will be focused on the production of the flagship iPhones in India. The investment is estimated to create as many as 25,000 jobs. The report doesn't say whether these high-end iPhones will be sold in the Indian market or elsewhere in the world.
Earlier this year, Apple revamped its India strategy in order to stay afloat in the country's smartphone market. This revamped strategy includes better and longer-lasting retail deals with higher sales targets, the debut of official Apple retail stores in India, an overhaul of the company's relationship with independent retailers, and improving apps and services for local users. This is said to include a new version of Apple Maps aimed at Indian users to launch by 2020.
The expansion of high-end iPhone assembly outside of China could also be an attempt by Apple to "limit the impact" of a trade war between the United States and China:
Local sources state that the work will occur in Foxconn's plant in Sriperumbudur town in the southern state of Tamil Nadu. Foxconn will reportedly invest 25 billion Indian rupees ($356 million) to expand the plant, part of which will be focused on the production of the flagship iPhones in India. The investment is estimated to create as many as 25,000 jobs. The report doesn't say whether these high-end iPhones will be sold in the Indian market or elsewhere in the world.
Earlier this year, Apple revamped its India strategy in order to stay afloat in the country's smartphone market. This revamped strategy includes better and longer-lasting retail deals with higher sales targets, the debut of official Apple retail stores in India, an overhaul of the company's relationship with independent retailers, and improving apps and services for local users. This is said to include a new version of Apple Maps aimed at Indian users to launch by 2020.
The expansion of high-end iPhone assembly outside of China could also be an attempt by Apple to "limit the impact" of a trade war between the United States and China:
For Apple, widening assembly beyond China is critical to mitigate the risks of the Sino-U.S. trade war. Foxconn, the world’s biggest electronics contract manufacturer, is considering setting up a factory in Vietnam, Vietnamese state media reported this month. If that goes ahead, it will be one of the biggest recent steps by a major company to secure an additional production base outside of China.Still, the company has struggled in the country due to the high price of its iPhones. Just last week, The Wall Street Journal published a report about Apple's iPhone sales in India. According to the paper, Apple has had "little success so far" in terms of growth in India, due to the price-sensitive market that has more than 75 percent of smartphones priced below $250.
Foxconn has previously admitted the China-U.S. trade spat was its biggest challenge and that its senior executives were making plans to counter the impact. “Widening iPhone manufacturing in India through Foxconn will allow Apple to hedge the risk of any new U.S. trade policies,” said Navkendar Singh, an associate research director at International Data Corporation.
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12 weeks ago
Probably a good idea to generally diversify manufacturing away from a single authoritarian country.
12 weeks ago
Timmothy Cook: " We're so proud! There have never been more iPhones being made in India!"
12 weeks ago
Fantastic news. Can’t wait to have an iPhone made in India and not made in China.
12 weeks ago
My company (HP) has a big presence in India - it's a great country, but holy hell getting electronics in out of customs is a world class headache. There are regulations in India for electronics that are extreme.
Also, we have to build special ruggedness platforms to account for the Indian environment. Failure rate there is astronomical thanks to humidity and dust (and dust and dust and dust).
Also, we have to build special ruggedness platforms to account for the Indian environment. Failure rate there is astronomical thanks to humidity and dust (and dust and dust and dust).
12 weeks ago
India is the only place where you can still get an iPhone SE and iPhone 6S since they are still being manufactured there. They need to export the iPhone SE to America then sales would be booming there.
12 weeks ago
Yeah it's a shame American consumers can't purchase an iPhone from the country of their choice. We are forced to buy from china where they embed those little server chips in their devices like Huawei phones and more secretly in iOS devices. I would assume the India iPhone don't have this "extra" feature unless the chips still come from china.
Do you have any proof of this statement?
12 weeks ago
As the most populous democracy in the world it is infinitely more desirable for any Apple product to me made there versus the evermore 1984ish China. I have all the latest Apple products but doubt I will purchase anything else made in China if given a choice. India would be my first choice because of the quality of the folks that I have met from there.
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silliness at its best. Prejudice at its worst. Anything can be made anywhere given the resources and the ability of the market to absorb the cost. China is proving more and more ... anti Western in it's thinking and since it is the fuel for their economy that is rather strange. Leave them alone for a while and they will ruminate on the situation. If you are going to be a world power, one needs to acknowledge that the world exists. The US may have it's faults but we acknowledge that the Chinese New Year and the Jewish New Year exist. We even post the beginnings of newer holidays such as Kwanza, etc. Santa exists if you want to enjoy the benefits of that spending season ...
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I thought this couldn't be possible?
Most of the components are manufactured in China, so assembling the phones half-a-world away would create huge logistical challenges.
China has a far bigger supply of appropriately-qualified engineers
China's factories are far bigger and more nimble
silliness at its best. Prejudice at its worst. Anything can be made anywhere given the resources and the ability of the market to absorb the cost. China is proving more and more ... anti Western in it's thinking and since it is the fuel for their economy that is rather strange. Leave them alone for a while and they will ruminate on the situation. If you are going to be a world power, one needs to acknowledge that the world exists. The US may have it's faults but we acknowledge that the Chinese New Year and the Jewish New Year exist. We even post the beginnings of newer holidays such as Kwanza, etc. Santa exists if you want to enjoy the benefits of that spending season ...
12 weeks ago
We are forced to buy from china where they embed those little server chips in their devices like Huawei phones and more secretly in iOS devices.
Do you have a credible source to back up your assertion?
Or...are you just making stuff up?
12 weeks ago
I wonder why Apple doesn't consider Mexico as a factory? It's so close and this would keep it in our Western Hemisphere and certainly cheaper labor and training could be supervised so much easier.
It's because they have already promised to invest Billions of dollars in USA to create a lot of American Jobs!
If they manufactured in Mexico, they would not expect to import the finished goods into the USA without import Tariffs would they? I don't think that would work these days.
Apple got away with manufacturing in China because the rules allowed it. Now the rules are changing and that's a good thing for citizens of USA, and probably will be a good thing for citizens of India with this news.
This is also why there will be no Tariffs applied to Apple products in the interim period while Apple gets set up for USA manufacture. They should get a free ride while they tool up in USA. Fairness.
If the USA puts import Tariffs on Apple products at this point, I think Apple would be justified in backing out of it's plans to bring more manufacturing to USA, right? Apple has a lot of negotiation power, and fair is fair. I think a deal probably was made between Trump and Cook about this - it's pretty obvious logic.
Does this make sense as to why there will be no Mexico Apple Factory?
Maybe if Apple wanted to sell the finished goods in Mexico, it would be no problem - just as they are apparently intending to do in India. The India factories will supply India, and create jobs in India.
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