Apple’s latest smartphone generation, launched in September, the Apple iPhone 13, will now be built in India, the company stated on Monday. The news comes months after the company’s manufacturing partner Foxconn in India began trial production for the handset last year. It will be built in India with the iPhone 11 and iPhone 12.
Last year, the firm was one of the fastest-growing smartphone brands in India, with shipments increasing by 108 percent year on year and a 44 percent share of the premium segment.
On Monday, the Cupertino company announced to Gadgets 360 that it has begun producing its latest iPhone 13 model in India. The first iPhone SE — launched by the firm in 2017 — was the first iPhone model to be made in India. Manufacturing recent iPhone models in India may help Apple reduce expenses in the nation, but there is no indication of whether this will translate into a price decrease for the company’s latest smartphone in India.
Apple has hired Foxconn and Wistron, two manufacturing partners based in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, respectively, to assemble the company’s handsets in India. According to PTI, citing sources familiar with the situation, Apple has commenced production of the iPhone 13 at the Foxconn plant in Chennai.
According to Apple sources, Taiwan-based Pegatron will also begin production of the iPhone 12 in India this month. The government stated in 2020 that it was awarding incentives to 16 businesses as part of a production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme to encourage domestic smartphone manufacturers, including Foxconn, Wistron, and Pegatron. It was claimed at the time that the three corporations planned to invest almost $900 million (approximately Rs. 6,800 crores) in India over the following five years.
Meanwhile, Apple adds that many of its Indian supplier locations now use solar and wind energy for operations, as part of the company’s Supplier Clean Energy 2021 Program, and 11 Indian supplier sites have committed to using renewable energy. Apple also claims that all established final assembly supplier plants in India generate no trash and are UL Zero Waste certified. Apple also removed the plastic outer wrapping from the iPhone 13 last year as part of its aim to reduce 600 metric tons of plastic.
It was reported last year that Apple would be one of the fastest-growing brands in India by 2021. According to market research and consulting firm Counterpoint, the company increased shipments by 108 percent year on year while maintaining its dominance in the premium smartphone class with a 44 percent share. Meanwhile, Apple says it will continue its attempts to open an Apple Store in India once its online store opens in 2020.
