People familiar with the matter revealed that Apple plans to assemble the new iPhone SE in India to avoid the country’s high tariffs on imported smartphones.
iPhone SE 2020 In India
It turns out Apple has notified at least one Chinese supplier to start shipping 2020 iPhone SE parts to Indian production partners. In this way, the Cupertino-based company can avoid tariffs by producing new iPhones in India.
Over the past few years, we have been getting more and more reports concerning Apple’s shifting iPhone production to India. The assembly of the 2020 iPhone SE in India is expected to better meet the needs of the local market.
However, the price of this phone is higher in India than in other markets. Converted to US dollars, the iPhone SE in India sells for $560. But, say, in the US, it costs $399.
According to reports, the production partner of the 2020 iPhone SE is Wistron Capital. Apart from this, another important Apple foundry company, Foxconn, also has a factory in India. However, it does not seem to participate in the assembly of iPhone SE in India.
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However, we should point out everything has begun a few days ago, when Apple CEO Tim Cook tripped to India in 2016. During his trip, Cook said he learned a great deal about India’s business and culture. Immediately, after the tour, he detailed Apple’s multi-pronged approach. This includes investments like the iOS design and development center in Bengaluru and a Maps development facility in operation in Hyderabad.
India Does Its Best To Attract Apple
Two weeks ago, the Indian government had just issued a series of stimulus plans, hoping to attract more companies to set up factories in the country. According to reports, after relaxing the country’s factory equipment tax, Apple plans to transfer about one-fifth of China’s production capacity to India. It is roughly equivalent to bringing $40 billion in revenue to local manufacturing in the next five years, making Apple the largest exporter in India.
‘We expect Apple to produce up to $40 billion worth of smartphones, mostly for exports through its contract manufacturers Wistron and Foxconn,’ an India government official claimed in May, ‘availing the benefits under the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme.’ The latter aims to provide incentives to companies to encourage manufacturing in the region.
By the way, Apple’s manufacturing partners began assembling iPhones in India in 2017. Apple India achieved sales revenue of $1.5 billion between March 2018 and March 2019.
