“Apple has started commercial production of the iPhone 6s in India since last week at the Bengaluru facility of its Taiwan-based contract manufacturer Wistron that has set up a new line for the handsets, two senior industry executives said ,” Writankar Mukherjee reports for The Economic Times. “The Cupertino-based maker of iPhones and Mac computers already makes iPhone SE since last May at the Wistron facility, which will now produce two iPhone models locally.”
“This will also mean any further change in import duties will exempt iPhone 6s from price increases the way iPhone SE was insulated when New Delhi raised taxes earlier this year,” Mukherjee reports. “This will help Apple consolidate its share in the mid-to-premium segment of the Indian smartphone market.”
“Apple has started evaluation on further expansion of local output, with another model likely to enter trials soon, the executives said,” Mukherjee reports. “Counterpoint said Apple’s share in the premium segment dipped in the January-March quarter due to a decline in shipments for iPhone 8 and X series, and the increase in duty on smartphones imported in completely built stage, which led to an increase in prices… The company had to raise prices by 6-7% earlier this year as the basic customs duty on smartphones was increased to 15% from 10% in December and again to 20% in February. The government in April further imposed a 10% customs duty on components like printed circuit boards populated with memory and chips, camera modules and connectors.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: As we wrote last December:
Expect Apple’s assembly partners to increase assembly in India as the country is of utmost importance for Apple’s continued growth.
SEE ALSO:
Apple ups iPhone prices in India as government hikes taxes on imported phones – December 18, 2017
India raises import tax on electronic products, including cellphones; move to hurt Apple – December 15, 2017
Apple slashes prices of iPhone 7, iPhone 7 plus, iPhone 6s in India – September 14, 2017
Apple seeks tax breaks for suppliers to make iPhones in India – August 1, 2017
Indian Prime Minister Modi meets with Apple CEO Cook ahead of President Trump today – June 26, 2017
Apple broadens their iPhone attack in India, the world’s second biggest mobile market – June 22, 2017
Apple is making old iPhones new again to win India – June 12, 201
Apple again asks Indian government to allow sale of certified refurbished iPhones in India – February 6, 2017
Indian IT minister says Apple plans to make iPhones in Bengaluru – February 3, 2017
Apple nears deal to manufacture products in India – January 25, 2017
Apple is ready to make iPhones in India, for a price – January 20, 2017
India to consider Apple request for tax breaks and policy exemptions with ‘open mind’ – January 18, 2017
Apple is horse-trading mightily with India – January 4, 2017
This looks like something similar to what Harley Davidson is doing in Europe, for different reasons.
At any rate the results look to be the same, I wonder if more companies will be following the way, to avoid import taxes and tariffs.
India is a big mistake that will give Apple a lot of headache. In terms of profits Apple have captured the bulk of the market and should not be greedy as it is. Let Samsung and andrioders have the cheap Indian market, all this talk of India being a big potential is talk of Hot Air. The government of India is nasty and will do unfair tax grab in the near future from Apple. Microsoft, Nokia have all suffered.
Also, how come India with a population of 1 billion + cannot make its own hard ware & Software / OS instead of relying on Samsung, Apple and other phone manufacturers??
Actually there are quite a few Indian made smartphones and tablets, nearly all running versions of Android – much like in any other large country. The top selling brands of Indian smartphones and tablets include Spice, Byond and HCL.
The one’s I’ve handled seem much like any other Android device and the build quality seems decent enough, but could not compare to an iPhone. They value battery longevity and seem to have longer battery life than many other models.
Well, why dont the Indians develop their own OS for the poor quality Indian phones you mention, instead of using data mining and battery hungry google andriod and be dependent on it? India is meant to be a tech and software savvy according to the impression they like to give (albeit false). Also do you know if these Indian andriod phones are exported, i would like to try them out
Tizen OS from Samsung might be available for sale cheap. 😀
So why can’t Apple build iPhones in America? Now that they’re going super premium, you’d think devices like the iPhone X Plus could be made here.
This trade war business is the only good thing that doofus in the White House has going for him. Wall Street doesn’t like it, but the way we operate doesn’t make sense to me.
“trade war business is the only good thing that doofus in the White House has going for him”
So what you’re saying is you can only count to one…?
You could argue that the US invented consumerism. There was a time when many household goods, cars, clothing etc were all made in the USA. US companies had a huge internal market and didn’t see much point in exports. But consumers want more choice and better prices. So what did US companies do? They took manufacturing offshore. Hence the trade imbalance.
Nice…I stopped using Adopie because I can’t understand their tech support…Apple is well on the way to being completely outta my life…Customer since 1990, Shitty products & shitty support..Hey, didn’t this same thing happen with John Scully?