Apple’s brand new iPhone 14 is now being assembled in India at the Foxconn plant near Chennai. This marks the first time Apple is manufacturing one of its latest generation iPhones just weeks after its announcement. The first batch of made in India iPhone 14 units are expected to hit shelves later this year.
Customers will be able to buy the made-in-India iPhone 14 in the coming few days as the company plans to ramp up production gradually, sources said.
When asked about iPhone 14 manufacturing in India, an Apple statement to ET said, “We’re excited to be manufacturing iPhone 14 in India.” The statement added that the new iPhone 14 lineup introduces new technologies and important safety capabilities.
The latest iPhone models were unveiled earlier this month and all the devices were made available in India within days of the global launch.
The company has been receiving great demand for the latest models with a waiting period of 4-5 weeks. The new models come with an improved camera, powerful sensors and also a satellite messaging feature to send SOS texts in emergencies. As part of 14 line-up, four models are available including iPhone 14, Plus, Pro and ProMax.
Analysts estimate that Apple will turn India into a global iPhone manufacturing hub by 2025 as it slowly cuts its reliance on China, where it has been producing the vast majority of its devices for over a decade. In a report earlier this month, JP Morgan analysts said Apple will move 5% of global iPhone 14 production to India by late 2022 and expand its manufacturing capacity in the country to produce 25% of all iPhones by 2025.
India has attracted investments from Apple manufacturing partners Foxconn and Wistron in recent years by offering lucrative subsidies as New Delhi moves to make the country a manufacturing hub. The presence of the foreign production giants, coupled with “ample labor resources and competitive labor costs,” makes India a desirable location, JP Morgan analysts said.
As Apple expands its local manufacturing capacity in India, many will hope that it will make its handsets affordable in the country. The base iPhone 14 models, which are priced at $799 in the U.S., cost 79,900 Indian rupees ($980). Whereas the entry iPhone Pro Max model costs $1,717 in India, compared to its $1,099 sticker price in the U.S.
Even as Apple commands a tiny market share in India, the iPhone-maker has broadened its investment in the country in the past five years. It opened its online Apple Store in the country two years ago and has publicly shared that it’s working to launch its first physical store in the nation.Earlier this month, Apple Inc unveiled its latest iPhone series — the iPhone 14 models – with an improved camera, powerful sensors and satellite messaging feature to send SOS texts in emergencies. The new lineup has four models: iPhone 14, Plus, Pro and ProMax.
According to sources, the Made-in-India iPhone 14 will begin to reach local customers in the next few days. Phones manufactured in India will be both for the Indian market and exports.
Apple CEO Tim Cook, during earnings call in July had said: “We set June quarter records in the Americas, in Europe and the rest of the Asia Pacific region. We also saw June quarter revenue records in both developed and emerging markets, with very strong double-digit growth in Brazil, Indonesia and Vietnam and a near doubling of revenue in India.”
A recent report by JP Morgan on ‘Apple Supply Chain relocation’ predicted that Apple “is likely to move about 5 per cent of iPhone 14 production to India from late 2022 and reach 25 per cent by 2025”.
It is also forecast that nearly 25 per cent of all Apple products, will be manufactured outside China by 2025 as compared to five per cent at present.
While a booming market for smartphones has added to India’s sheen, New Delhi’s policy push in the electronics sector has nudged large global suppliers to expand in India, and driven new players to set up base. After tasting success in local smartphone manufacturing, India is moving swiftly to replicate the success with other parts of electronics ecosystem, as it makes solid efforts to cut reliance on imports.
The government has unveiled attractive incentives to spur local production and export of telecom and networking equipment as well as IT products, and a Rs 76,000 crore semiconductor scheme was announced late last year to boost local manufacturing of chips and display panels.
To attract global giants such as Intel and TSMC, the Centre, last week, sweetened the semiconductor package further by increasing the fiscal support for new facilities (across technology nodes) to cover 50 per cent of project cost.
