With India rising as a lucrative smartphone market, Apple did not think twice in planning to put up a manufacturing facility in India. Apple seeks to start work at the Peenya factory in Bengaluru by April of this year.
We can expect to see the very first batch of Indian made iPhone soon. We might even see the speculated iPhone 8 to be produced there. Reports say that the tech giant will not manufacture all of its gadgets initially. It will limit itself to manufacturing a few gadgets then increase productions gradually.
However, the US iPhone maker is still in hot water with the Indian government which is refusing to give tax benefits to the company. Apple is still set to meet up with senior officials from ministries, including IT and finance, on January 25 to deliberate its request for setting up a manufacturing unit in India.
What is currently getting attention is the future price of the iPhone. One possible outcome that might happen with the tax breaks is the iPhone becoming cheaper. The manufacturing and production costs that Apple pays on devices including the iPhone as import taxes is around 12 per cent. When the iPhone starts being manufactured in India, these costs could be virtually eliminated. This means that Indians will enjoy the fancy device at a much cheaper price. The cheaper price will also mean better service local Indian Apple stores.
As an important smartphone market today with an installed base of 275 million devices, India has also already attracted many of Apple's rivals. Aside from Apple, China's Oppo has actively planned to set up an industrial park with a manufacturing unit in Noida, India. The South Korean conglomerate Samsung is expanding its local manufacturing plant in Noida, Uttar Pradesh to rapidly increase the production of its smartphones.
