Apple Inc has started manufacturing its marquee new iPhone 14 in India as the global tech giant taps manufacturing capabilities outside of China.
The US tech giant started production of the iPhone 14 in the world’s second-largest smartphone market within weeks of the device’s September 7 launch.
“We are thrilled to be manufacturing iPhone 14 in India,” Apple said in a statement.
“The new iPhone 14 series introduces revolutionary new technologies and important security features,” the company said.
Cupertino, California-based Apple began manufacturing iPhones in India in 2017 with the iPhone SE.
Today, Apple makes some of its most advanced iPhones in the country, including the iPhone SE, iPhone 12, iPhone 13, and now the iPhone 14.
Sources said that the Made-in-India iPhone 14 will start reaching local customers in the next few days. The phones made in India will be both for the Indian market and for export.
The iPhone 14 will be shipped from Foxconn’s Sriperumbudur facility on the outskirts of Chennai. Foxconn is the world’s largest electronics contract manufacturer and the main maker of the iPhone.
Apple, which has long made most of its iPhones in China, could make one in four iPhones in India by 2025, JP Morgan analysts said in a note last week.
In the past, iPhones were assembled in India about six to nine months after production began in Chinese factories. This time the duration was reduced to just a few weeks.
The iPhone 14 was launched on September 7, 2022, and is available to customers in India from September 16, 2022, simultaneously with the US, among others.
The iconic brand has a long history in India that started over 20 years ago. Apple launched its online store in the country in September 2020 and is all set to deepen its commitment with the upcoming launch of an Apple retail store.
The recent manufacturing expansion builds on several Apple initiatives in the country, including the App Design and Development Accelerator in Bengaluru and programs with local organizations to support renewable energy training and development for communities.
India’s buoyant market is proving to be sweet for the US tech giant as the company reported a “near doubling” of revenue in the country in the quarter ending June 2022.
Apple CEO Tim Cook said during an earnings call in July, “We set records for the June quarter in the Americas, Europe and the rest of the Asia-Pacific region. We also posted records for quarterly sales in both developed and emerging markets. markets. very strong double-digit growth in Brazil, Indonesia and Vietnam and almost doubling revenue in India.”
A recent report by JP Morgan on “Apple’s supply chain relocation” predicted that Apple “is likely to shift about 5 percent of iPhone 14 production to India from late 2022 and reach 25 percent by 2025.”
It is also predicted that nearly 25 percent of all Apple products will be made outside of China by 2025, compared to five percent now.
“US-China trade tensions have kicked off a cycle of manufacturing relocations and the pursuit of a ‘China+1’ manufacturing approach for Apple’s supply chain since late 2018,” the report said.
COVID-19 has slowed that over the past two years, but with pandemic concerns easing, “we’re seeing more companies in Apple’s supply chain re-accelerate supply chain relocation efforts,” the brokerage said in a report.
“Supply chain risks (such as the COVID-19-related lockdowns in Shanghai/Shenzhen) are likely to be the main driver of these moves over the next two to three years,” he added.
Southeast and South Asian countries (such as India, Vietnam, Thailand) have become preferred locations for geopolitical diversification outside of China for Apple’s food chain vendors, due to their lower labor costs, sufficient skilled labor support, and attractive policy and government support, according to JP Morgan . analysts.
While the booming smartphone market has added to India’s sheen, New Delhi’s political push in the electronics sector has prompted major global vendors to expand in India and new players to establish a base.
After tasting success in local smartphone manufacturing, India is moving fast to replicate the success with other parts of the electronics ecosystem as it makes significant efforts to reduce its dependence on imports.
The government introduced attractive incentives to boost local manufacturing and exports of telecom and networking equipment as well as IT products, and a 76,000-crore semiconductor program was announced late last year to support local chip and display panel manufacturing.
To attract global giants such as Intel and TSMC, the Center last week further weakened the semiconductor package by increasing fiscal support for new facilities (in technology hubs) to cover 50 percent of project costs.