It is no doubt that this news might give all the Apple fans in India something to rejoice about. The higher priced iPhone models might see some kind of a price cut if the contract manufacturer named Wistron starts manufacturing high-end iPhones in India. This move will also support the government’s Make In India initiative as well. The Information Technology Ministry of India has approved the $51 billion plan of Apple to start assembling
The IT minister Ravi Shankar has told the news that that Wistron’s $50.9 billion plan has been approved and is now with the cabinet. The company can now start assembling the latest iPhone models in India.
This move will definitely help Apple’s strategies for India. The company has been mostly focused on the low-end iPhones for now and their assembly. This helps in bypassing import duties and thus results in low import duties as well. With the higher end iPhones, the import duties paid by Apple gets passed to the consumer, and thus the high prices of iPhones prevail. This can be seen by the pricing of the iPhone XS which costs 99,000 INR or $1,414 in India, while the same costs $1,099 in the USA.
Apart from Wistron, another known manufacturer of Apple iPhones, known as Foxconn is also planning to start assembling of higher-priced iPhone models in the year 2019. Foxconn is a Taiwan based manufacturer, which is also the largest contract manufacturer in the world as well, and currently makes Xiaomi smartphones. This step from Apple means that Foxconn will invest $25 billion more into the plant of Sriperumbudur, Tamil Nadu, in order to fulfil all the demand. Foxconn has also submitted the application for the same on December 31st, 2018.
With the help of this boost in the production of mobile phones in India, it will definitely help the Indian Government to promote more manufacturing of electronics in India – thereby creating more employment for the country and also boost exports as well. A policy has been undertaken by the cabinet to make a $400 billion manufacturing ecosystem in India by the year 2025, and side by side also create 10 million jobs in the country as well.
In spite of all of these, the country is also facing tough competition from China as well – who is also trying to give more incentives to manufacturing companies in order to keep its leadership position. Still, the Government of India is looking for newer policies in order to counteract such incentives from China. The IT minister said that India’s openness is its biggest advantage and being the fastest growing smartphone market in the world – India definitely has the upper hand compared to China, in this regard. The skilled workforce in India is also plenty as well to talk about.