Apple has finally moved out its ideas of making iPhones in India from the planning phase to the execution phase. The manufacturing of iPhone X has been scheduled to commence in July 2019 at Chennai.
The company confirmed the news of starting the manufacturing of iPhones in India and thereby supporting the Make in India movement only recently.
iPhone X Production To Start in Chennai
Foxconn Technology Group, a Taiwanese contract manufacturer is starting the manufacture of iPhone X in its factory. This factory is spread over 160 acres in Chennai.
Before diving into the mainstream of manufacturing, Apple initially carried out trials of some iPhones of the X series in its Chennai plant, which includes iPhone X, iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and iPhone XR.
The trials seem to have been successful as production and assembly of iPhones will soon begin, starting with iPhone X.
As per sources close to the ongoing proceedings, “Foxconn will begin with the iPhone X (range) from the Chennai plant. The plans are to step up production capacity and diversify to even higher models going forward.”
However, a sustained increase in the manufacturing of the iPhones will depend on the incentives and their favourability offered by the upcoming government.
Will iPhone X Be Available at Less Cost?
Apple has not had much success in India in the recent past, even after India being the world’s fastest growing smartphones. In 2018, the import of Apple’s iPhones shrunk to half its number as compared to that of 2017.
Setting up the production of iPhone X in India will definitely save the smartphone giant the added cost of importing and other paraphernalia that comes with it.
Does this mean that the iPhone X will be available at a lesser cost now? Apparently not.
Tarun Pathak, Associate Director, at Counterpoint Technology Market Research said, “A drop in prices is likely but there are more chances of Apple slashing prices of the old-generation models like the iPhone 7 or the next one than the latest range.”
Apple began the production and assembly of iPhone 6s and iPhone SE models in a plant run by Wistron, near Bengaluru. As per news, Wistron has started with the manufacture and assembly of iPhone 7, which has been perceived as a sign that smartphone companies will soon start manufacture and assembly of their devices in India.
As per data collected by the Indian Cellular and Electronics Association, 290 million smartphones were assembled in India in 2018, whereas, in 2014, the number was only 58 million.