Apple To Start Producing iPhones In India Within Two Months

It has long been reported that Apple is interested in manufacturing iPhones in India. It has been working out the modalities of such an arrangement with the country’s government over the past few months and according to reports, the two parties appear to have reached an understanding which will enable the company to start producing iPhones in India within two months. The iPhone will be produced at a Wistron plant based in Bangalore.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the first Apple products to be manufactured at the Wistron plant in Bangalore will be the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6S. The iPhone SE will also hit the production line in nearly three months.

“Almost all preparations have been done for launching Apple’s first phase project in Bangalore through Wistron,” said a government official cited in the report. Local manufacturing is viewed as a key part of Apple’s plan to take a big chunk of India’s smartphone market.

It currently accounts for only five percent of the market. Apple has to pay significant import tariffs on iPhones that it sells in India because they’re not manufactured in the country. If the iPhones are manufactured locally it wouldn’t have to pay those tariffs and those savings would obviously be reflected in the costs.

Analysts expect the savings to be north of $100 which would go a long way in making iPhones competitive with the endless stream of Android smartphones that have captured the Indian smartphone market.

Adnan Farooqui
Categories: Apple, Cellphones
Tags: iPhone