This Monday, Apple stated that it is assembling its flagship iPhone 14 in India.
“The new iPhone 14 lineup introduces groundbreaking new technologies and important safety capabilities. We’re excited to be manufacturing iPhone 14 in India,” the company said in a statement.
Apple’s main iPhone assembler, Foxconn, is manufacturing the devices at its Sriperumbudur factory on the outskirts of Chennai.
The Cupertino, California, giant has been manufacturing iPhones in India since 2017 but these were typically older models. This time, Apple is going to manufacture its latest model in India for the first time, close to the device’s launch.
Apple will sell India-produced phones locally and export them too to other markets globally.
JPMorgan analysts said in a note this month that Apple will move 5% of its global production for the iPhone 14 to India by late 2022. Apple could also make 25% of all iPhones by 2025 in India, JPMorgan said.
India has looked to boost local manufacturing of electronics through incentives.
Meanwhile, Apple has been looking to increase sales in India, the world’s second-largest smartphone market. Last year, Apple had a 3.8% market share in India last year, as lower-cost competitors such as Samsung and China’s Xiaomi dominate there, according to Counterpoint Research.
“Apple has a strong momentum in India. India is among the 20+ countries in the world where the premiumization trend has just started,” Tarun Pathak, research director at Counterpoint Research, told CNBC.