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Motivated by the increase in its Made in India exports, the US based gadget manufacturing giant – Apple – has been pushing towards setting up its manufacturing and supply chain base in India. Back in March this year, Apple’s biggest supplier Foxconn Technology Group announced that it is planning to invest about USD 700 million in a new plant in India to augment local production. Last month as well, they hinted at setting up the manufacturing of the upcoming iPhone 15 from India.
As per latest reports, India’s leading conglomerate Tata Group has been selected to manufacture the latest iPhone 15 and 15 Plus models for Apple in in India. According to TrendForce – a Taiwanese market intelligence provider – said that Tata will be the fourth iPhone manufacturing partner for Apple in India. Apple currently has three manufacturing partners in India, namely, Wistron, Foxconn and Pegatron and though the percentage of iPhones to be manufactured by Tata is still unknown, they will be the fourth partner.
As the world’s biggest manufacturers consider and act upon the idea of China Plus One and Minus China, Apple is becoming a classic example for others to follow. They have been slow and steady in their pace of shifting base to India, but the strategy has been working wonders for them. So much so that in a recent quarterly earnings call with analysts, CEO Tim Cook, reportedly, mentioned India 20 times and singled it out as the most relevant country for iPhone – both as a market, as well as a production base. He referred India to be at the tipping point, where an increasing number of people were entering the middle class.
Apple’s decision to make iPhone 15 and 15 Plus in India would lead to the first shipments of the models being available in the country without delay and at a much lesser price. This will also give a significant boost to Tata in the expansion of their electronic presence in India.
The company already manufactures some of its devices in India including the latest iPhone 14, iPhone SE, and iPhone 13. Apple also recently inaugurated two of its flagship outlets in India – one in Mumbai and other in New Delhi. The year 2022 was a solid year for local manufacturing and localisation for Apple. On the other hand, the recent disbursement of PLI incentives from the government, as well as other initiatives at both the central and state levels, boosted overall local manufacturing – strengthening the Make In India initiative.
