Everyone knows iPhone is made in China, right? Well, yes and no. A new report indicates that as many as 14% of Apple handsets are actually produced in India.
It’s part of Apple’s plan to diversify where its products are assembled to reduce its dependence on China.
Apple is offering 50% off the AirPods in India when you purchase an iPhone 14 or iPhone 14 Plus. The company is providing this discount amid the country’s festive season and ahead of Diwali.
Additionally, new users will get a free Apple Music subscription for six months.
India surpassed France and Germany to become the fifth-largest iPhone market for Apple in Q2 2023. This is the first time India has become one of Apple’s top five iPhone markets.
The Asian country has emerged as a key market for Apple in recent years. It now trails China, the US, Japan and the U.K. in iPhone sales.
Apple is reportedly in talks with HDFC Bank to bring Apple Card to India. The latter is among the country’s largest credit card issuers and private banks.
The Cupertino giant also held discussions with NPCI to launch Apple Pay in the country.
Refurbished iPhones are “selling like hot cakes” in India. This is despite Apple not officially selling pre-owned iPhones in the country.
iPhones already dominate the premium smartphone market in India. However, its share in the secondary market is 2x higher.
A government minister is “confident” that Apple will double or even triple the amount of money it has invested in India in the coming years. It’s expanding iPhone assembly in the subcontinent, and production of other devices there is expected to begin soon.
The comments come a day after Apple CEO Tim Cook met with India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Apple CEO Tim Cook met with India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday. It’s part of a busy agenda for the executive, including opening two Apple stores — the first in the subcontinent. But that’s just a small part of his activities as the executive traveled around to highlight how Apple products are being used in India.
Cook posted tweets from all the many events and meetings.
Apple’s first retail store in India opened its doors to shoppers Tuesday, and CEO Tim Cook showed up to celebrate. Apple BKC — housed in an energy-efficient structure with some stunning architectural details — is located inside Jio World Drive, a huge shopping complex in Mumbai, Maharashtra.
The Indian store opening marks an important milestone for Apple, as it seeks to expand its retail and manufacturing presence in the world’s most populous country.
Apple is making more iPhones in India than ever before. The Cupertino giant assembled 7% of the total iPhones it manufactured last fiscal year in the country.
The company is looking to make India the next iPhone manufacturing hub after China to diversify its supply chain.
After years of delay, Apple’s first retail store will reportedly open in India next month. The 22,000 sq. ft. store is located inside the Jio World Drive mall in Mumbai.
Apple started hiring for its retail store in India at the beginning of this year.
Foxconn will soon start making AirPods for Apple. For this, the Taiwanese company will spend upwards of $200 million to build a factory in India.
Foxconn has never assembled AirPods for Apple despite being its biggest contract manufacturer. This will change once its new factory in India is ready.
Apple is making internal management changes to further focus on India. And for the first time ever, the company will make India its own sales region, highlighting its growing importance.
The South Asian country is already emerging as a major alternative to China for manufacturing its products.
After recent problems in China, Apple is ramping up iPhone assembly in India. The number of iOS handsets assembled in that country will reportedly triple in the coming years.
Previous reports have also indicated that Apple is putting a much greater emphasis on making iPhones in India.
Apple is asking its suppliers to move production of AirPods and Beats from China to India. This is the first time the company is looking to manufacture its wireless earbuds in the South Asian country.
The Cupertino giant has been heavily diversifying its supply chain recently and reducing its reliance on China. The company had already moved a portion of AirPods production from China to Vietnam in 2019.
With the festive season starting in India, Apple is running a new offer on its online store in the country. You can enjoy a discount of up to Rs. 7,000 ($93) on your purchases through the store.
The offer is eligible on all orders worth at least Rs 41,900. Additionally, the company is offering No Cost EMI on cards from most banks.
Apple has started manufacturing the iPhone 14 in India. The move comes just a couple of weeks after the latest iPhones went on sale in over 30+ markets globally.
The Cupertino giant has already been assembling the iPhone 11, iPhone 12, and iPhone 13 in India. Foxconn and Wistron manufacture the phones in their Indian facilities.
J.P. Morgan analysts believe Apple could move 25% of iPhone production to India by 2025. The Cupertino giant has already moved a part of iPhone, iPad, and MacBook production outside China in recent years.
Apple is diversifying its supply chain and wants to reduce its reliance on China as a production hub.
Foxconn will begin shipping the iPhone 14 from its assembly plant in India almost as soon as its Chinese plant starts shipping Apple’s next smartphone, according to an industry analyst. This is apparently a sign that Apple is decreasing its dependence on China.
And Foxconn is reportedly building up its assembly capacity in India.
Apple has sent out emails to its customers in India informing them that it won’t be accepting credit and debit cards for payments on the App Store and other Apple services starting June 1, 2022.
The announcement comes ahead of the new regulations from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) going live.
Apple’s long struggle to open a retail store in India isn’t over yet. The iPhone-maker had planned to throw open the doors of a brick-and-mortar location in Mumbai in 2021, but it’s now reportedly been delayed by COVID-19.
Apple became a trillion-dollar tech giant thanks to its deep and intricate ties to China for manufacturing and component supplies.
But a coronavirus that began in China has left that giant a little shaky on its feet and dizzy from renewed questions over why Apple hasn’t developed a more diverse strategy for building the world’s most popular personal computing devices.
It’s definitely not from a lack of trying as pointed out Thursday in an article by The Information, which took a deep-dive into Apple’s arduous path through India.
