Last December, we reported that Apple was planning manufacture top of the line iPhones in India (in addition to producing older models) to expand its market share and hopefully increase sales in the country. More than that: It plans to open new stores in India, and for this, at least 30% of the materials used in local production must come from suppliers based in the country.
Soon after, we learned that Foxconn, Apple's main partner in the manufacture of iPhones, was interested in expanding its activities to India. Now, the company is finally about to begin experimental production of high-end iPhones in the world's second most populous country. The information is from Bloomberg.
This testing phase will take place before Ma's supplier begins mass production of the new iPhones at its factory in Chennai, South India. Foxconn is investing in its factories there as an option to diversify its supply chain beyond China, where most of the company's facilities are located (and the problems as well).
Apple currently manufactures most of its gadgets Foxconn but in India, Wistron (another Ma partner) is already responsible for producing older models such as the iPhones SE, 6s and now also the iPhone 7. When manufacturing the top-of-the-line models in the In the past, such devices are likely to be a little more costly there by eliminating import duties and other costs.
As we said, all of these efforts should contribute to increasing Apple's expressiveness in the Indian market, which fell to about 1% in 2018. In the first two months of 2019, Apple sold about 150,000 devices in the country, half of what it said. was sold during the same period last year, according to updated data from Counterpoint Research.
