Apple, the world’s second-largest smartphone brand, has now reportedly started manufacturing its iPhone 7 in India. It is being manufactured by Wistron at its manufacturing plant on the outskirts of Bengaluru.
This is the third smartphone from Apple to get manufactured in India. Prior to iPhone 7, the company’s iPhone 6s and iPhone SE were already being manufactured in India at the same Wistron plant.
However, market analysts believe that the pricing of the iPhone 7 won’t go down in India despite the phone now being manufactured locally, which is cheaper than importing the device. They believe that the brand will use the extra profit to push for sales through aggressive marketing campaigns.
Some believe that the manufacturing of the iPhone 7 in India is more about testing the manufacturing capabilities of the company in India rather than giving sales boost or reduce the pricing. This means that if everything works out the way it planned, Apple could start manufacturing more devices in India.
This move from Apple comes after Wistron recently received approval from the government for its Rs. 5,000 proposal to expand the company’s manufacturing capabilities with an aim to produce high-end Apple smartphones in India.
It is being speculated that Apple is seeing India as more of a manufacturing and export hub because of China-US geopolitical pressures, rather than seeing India as a destination for the sales of its products. As for the company’s presence in India, Apple’s market share in India has sunk from 2.4% in 2017 to just 1.2% in 2018.
Apple iPhone 7 is currently available in India in two variants — 32 GB internal storage and 128 GB internal storage. While the 32 GB model costs Rs. 39,900, the 128 GB model is priced at Rs. 49,900.
