The production of iPhone 13 will likely begin in April at Foxconn’s plant in Chennai as Apple works to reduce its dependence on China.
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Suspension Lifted
It was originally scheduled for January but was delayed after Apple placed the factory on probation following worker protests about the conditions there.
The situation has been resolved, it appears.
Apple is expected to start commercial production for domestic as well as export markets.
However, there’s bad news for those expecting a lower price due to its local production.
No Price Drop
Apple does not fine-tune the pricing strategy for a local market even if it produces the phone there.
This is due to Apple’s global pricing strategy that it does not tamper with.
On top of that, Apple will not locally source components, further reducing chances of the India price being lower than elsewhere.
However, local production will ensure that there is no supply shortage of the latest iPhones in the country despite the ongoing semiconductor chip shortage globally.
The issue can only escalate due to the continuing Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Living Conditions At Foxconn (Or Lack Thereof)
Back in January, protests erupted at the Foxconn plant in Chennai against the poor living conditions of the workers’ quarters.
One of the accusations was that the workers were served contaminated food infested with worms.
They were forced to live in crowded dormitories without proper water supply in toilets.
Overcrowding, Hospitalisation
They were also forced to sleep on the floor in rooms that housed between 6 and 30 women.
The food contamination case was massive, since over 259 workers suffered from food poisoning and 100 of them were even hospitalized.
Following these developments, Apple suspended iPhone production in Foxconn temporarily and put the plant on probation until the working conditions were improved.
Foxconn Takes Corrective Steps
Foxconn later issued a statement saying that it has implemented a range of corrective actions to ensure this won’t happen again.
It also set in place a rigorous monitoring system to allow workers to raise concerns including anonymously.
The plant will restart production with a maximum of 100 people.
Prices, USP
The iPhone 12 models are produced in the Foxconn plant but the iPhone 11 and iPhone SE second generation are manufactured at the Wistron plant in Bengaluru.
Reports say that Apple makes 70% of the phones it sells in India.
Starting prices of the iPhone 13 Mini and the iPhone 13 are likely to remain Rs 69,990 and Rs 79,990 respectively.
The phone has the fastest performance in the market with its A15 Bionic processor.
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