NEW DELHI:
Apple
is finally set to make the highly-coveted and technologically-sophisticated Pro series of iPhones in India, in a big affirmation to the country’s
Make in India
initiative and the quality of
manufacturing
. However, there are “no immediate plans” to assemble the iPad tablets and the MacBook laptops in India for now, sources told TOI.
The
iPhone Pro
devices will be assembled for the first time in India when the latest iPhone 16
models
hit stores globally around September this year, though trial production will begin a little earlier, the sources said.
Apple has already been assembling the non-Pro models in India, the latest being iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus variants.
Once the iPhone Pro’s
assembly
stabilises in India, the models would also be exported to various global markets, similar to what Apple does with the non-Pro series currently. “The plan has been in the works for the past one year, with efforts to streamline the supply chain for the new devices. The results have been positive and the company will assemble the Pro models, something it had been able to do so far,” one of the source said.
Apple did not respond to questions on the matter.
In fact, “trials for the Pro devices will begin soon”, the source said, adding that the assembly is likely to be shared between the company’s all three makers in the country – the Taiwanese duo of Foxconn and Pegatron and local player Tata group.
The addition of Pro completes the suite of iPhone models being made in India. Interestingly, Apple has decided to assemble the Pro here even when the govt reduced the import duty on mobiles phones from 20% to 15% in the Budget presented earlier this week.
Apple initially started with the import of iPhones in India, and first started assembling devices in 2017 from Wistron’s plant in Karnataka (this was acquired by the Tata group in 2023). After Wistron, Foxconn – which is Apple’s biggest contract manufacturer – entered India, and thereafter Pegatron came in 2022.
The assembly of iPhones in India for both the domestic markets and exports has been one of the biggest success stories of the Modi government, and this was only fuelled further when India came out with production-linked incentive (PLI) benefits for smartphone manufacturing.
The deepening of Apple’s commitment in India, which includes selling iPads, MacBooks, airpods and watch, saw the company’s revenue in the country reach $8.7 billion, according to an analysis by Morgan Stanley.
