Apple manufacturer Wistron reportedly wants to expand its iPhone SE manufacturing in India. The company is currently scouting for 100 acres of land to help it do so.
Wistron has quietly shortlisted several possible locations in Bangalore for its new facility, including one close to the nearby airport. In addition to Apple, the new facility may also be used to supply other brands.
To help with its machine learning and artificial intelligence research, Apple is reportedly scouting for possible new employees straight out of an engineering college in India.
It’s a move which not only helps further Apple’s A.I. ambitions, but also shows its continued focus on India, a market which Apple is desperate to expand into.
Smartphone sales are exploding in emerging markets like China and India. Apple has been trying to take advantage of that for years, and it insists it is succeeding. But in reality, other manufacturers are dominating the premium smartphone segment.
According to the latest data, OnePlus handsets accounted for 57 percent of all premium handsets sold in India during the second quarter of 2017.
It’s been a long time coming, but the chances of an official Apple store in India may have just gotten a whole lot better.
That’s based on the fact that India has just given Chinese smartphone maker Oppo the necessary permission to open its own single brand retail stores. Oppo is the first smartphone brand to be given this opportunity in the world’s third-largest smartphone market. It bodes well for Apple’s chances!
The iPhone X may be pricey in the U.S., but spare a thought for the folks in India! As far as local pricing goes, the 64 GB version will retail for Rs 89,000 ($1,391) when it goes on sale on November 3. The top-end 256 GB model, meanwhile, will set customers back a massive Rs 102,000 ($1,594). That’s not great for a market Apple is keen to grow.
As a local news report points out, the iPhone X is so expensive in India that customers can actually save money by buying a return flight to Hong Kong to pick it up there.
Apple is running into big problems in India, concerning a clash with the government over its anti-spam iOS app.
The problem comes down to a Do Not Disturb app, which the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India wants Apple to distribute on the App Store. Apple, however, is refusing since it allows people to share spam call and text message logs with government agency, which Apple claims violates its privacy policies.
Apple might be desperate to make inroads into India, but not everyone in the country is quite as supportive as Apple might like.
In particular, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has accused Apple of carrying out “data colonization” in the country, while also being “anti-consumer” in its behavior. The strong language suggests an attempt to paint Apple as the bad guy among the general public.
The iPhone SE hasn’t been updated in the 18 months since its release, but according to a new report, Apple manufacturer Wistron is gearing up to produce the next-gen iPhone SE at its factory in India.
The new 4-inch iPhone SE will reportedly be made available in the first quarter of 2018, roughly two years after the first model shipped. It will keep the look of its predecessor, but come with A10 processor, iOS 11, and will boast 32GB and 128GB storage options, with a 1700mAh battery.
Apple is eager to get business in India on a fast track – plans that include partnering with the government on high-speed rail.
Apple reportedly is among a group of technology firms that will help India’s railways increase train speeds up to as much as 600 kilometers per hour.
If you’re yet to adjust to a larger iPhone, it seems you’re going to get left behind. A new report claims Apple has no plans to refresh the iPhone SE, its smallest and most affordable handset, which hasn’t been properly updated since last March.
Apple’s brand new App Accelerator in Bengaluru, India has only been open since March this year — but already it’s paying off.
According to developers who signed up to the Accelerator, they’re finding themselves with a major advantage over other local app-makers in being shown how to incorporate Apple’s latest tech. And it’s working out pretty well for Apple, too!
Apple has cut iPhone, iPad, and Mac prices in India this week following sales tax reforms.
Shoppers can now save up to 7.5 percent on the latest iOS devices, but the discounts aren’t quite as generous on Apple Watch or Macs.
Tim Cook met with the prime minister of India over the weekend, concerning permission to open official Apple stores in the country.
This is something Apple has been chasing for some time now, but has yet to get off the ground. However, with Apple now officially selling iPhones that have been made in India, the hope is that it has sufficient leverage to get permission to open retail stores.
Apple’s first iPhone SE units manufactured in India are now on sale in the country.
“Designed by Apple in California, Assembled in India,” reads the tagline on the back. Despite being made locally, the devices cost exactly the same as those shipped from China.
The Indian government has reportedly asked Apple for more in-depth details about what it offers in terms of job creation and investment, in exchange for the government offering it additional tax concessions within the country.
Apple’s been seeking tax concessions to set manufacturing facilities in India for some time, but has been rebuffed. Now that one of Apple’s suppliers, Wistron, is officially building iPhones in the country, it seems the Indian government is ready to reconsider. Maybe.
Apple is giving iPhone retailers in India permission to slash prices in a bid to boost sales.
Even the company’s older handsets are still too expensive for the vast majority of local consumers, and sales are suffering as a result. Apple has no choice but to cut prices if it wants to be successful in one of the world’s fastest-growing smartphone markets.
To encourage manufacturing in India, Indian authorities have offered to let Apple import smartphone components for use in local manufacturing, tax free.
Apple previously asked for a 15-year tax holiday from paying tax on importing components it needed for Indian manufacturing. The request was denied by authorities, but it seems that a compromise may be reached, whereby Apple will gradually increase the local production of components in India.
Apple manufacturing partner Wistron has started work producing iPhone SE models in India at its factory in Bangalore. The handsets are set to ship to customers later this month, most likely as soon as next week.
While no pricing has yet been announced, Apple is reportedly likely to charge significantly less than the $399 and $499 it sells the 32GB and 128GB iPhone SE models for in the United States. In an effort to grow its brand in India, pricing could be as low as $220.
Apple is constantly talking up the importance of India as a growth market, and a new report from Kantar Wordpanel illustrates exactly why that is.
According to the report, smartphone penetration hit a 48 percent growth rate in the first quarter of 2017. That’s considerably up from the 16 percent growth rate seen one year earlier. In a country with a population of more than 1.3 billion, that’s a massive target market!
Apple’s Q2 earnings report for 2017 just barely beat Wall Street’s expectations when the numbers were revealed this afternoon, but there are plenty of reasons to still be optimistic about AAPL.
During the company’s call with investors today, Apple CEO Tim Cook and CFO Luca Maestri discussed some of the struggles the company experienced last quarter, from slumping iPhone sales to economic headwinds in China.
Here are the biggest takeaways:
Apple today introduced two new low-cost pricing tiers for macOS and iOS apps sold in Europe. The change comes as price increases came into effect in Tuesday morning’s refresh as a result of exchange rate fluctuations.
Apple will open an online store in India to start selling iPhones, which it may begin making locally within the next couple of week.
Selling iPhones it makes in India is Apple’s first big step in competing for market share in a country with rapidly growing smartphone sales.
Apple’s brand new App Accelerator in Bengaluru, India, is officially open for business!
Plans for the 40,000-square-foot office space were first announced by Tim Cook during his visit to India last year. The App Accelerator’s purpose is to offer guidance, inspiration, tutorials, and feedback to local developers building iOS, tvOS, watchOS, and Mac OS apps.
Apple may not have received the tax concessions it was hoping for in India, but that’s not slowing down plans to begin manufacturing iPhones in the country.
According to a new report, Apple is set to start making iPhones in India within the next two months, and potentially as soon as 4 weeks’ time.
Apple’s goal of snagging a sizable piece of the growing smartphone market in India may prove more expensive than hoped.
India’s Department of Revenue rebuffed Cupertino’s requests for 15 years’ worth of tax concessions to set up manufacturing facilities, according to published reports. The bad news comes a month before Apple is set to begin building the iPhone SE in that country.