In 2011, the iPhone 4 was the sought-after device on the market, and almost everyone surfed the internet to know more about the new device looks, specs, reviews and whatever related to it. After watching it, people were fully convinced to buy the device and some even sold gold ornaments just to buy this device.
However, after the years progressed, people showed no sign of interest in buying an expensive phone in India. Two years ago, Apple ran through a bad experience as they got a weak response in India for the first time. Apple iPhones missed out the trick on attracting the large sections of the cities in India. The sales of iPhone XS and XS Max declined steadily.
Now in a recent development, Apple has made a big announcement that it is going to shift 20 per cent of its production from China to India. That’s definitely bad news for China as Apple targets India for manufacturing.
Apple is the biggest ever tech industry in terms of market value and is the most loved brand across the world. Apple is all set to shift 20% of production from China to India to scale up to $40 billion worth of local revenue.
Apple’s senior executives and some Indian government officials have reportedly discussed the move over the last few days, as per Economic Times. Several meetings have been held between Apple‘s senior executives and Indian government officials regarding the step.
The move comes after the Indian government urged countrymen to promote indigenous products to make the country self-reliant. The government has announced a new production-linked incentives (PLI) scheme to encourage local production in the country.
The coronavirus pandemic has brought a key opportunity for India. We are at a critical juncture in this fight. A self-reliant India is the only way forward. The world now believes that India can do very well and that we can contribute greatly towards the welfare of mankind.
Experts believe that this move will give a huge benefit to Apple as well as Apple could become India’s largest exporter. Apple currently produces iPhone 7 and iPhone XR locally in the country. It also used to manufacture iPhone SE and iPhone 6, they have now been discontinued from Apple’s global product portfolio.
The deadly virus has disturbed the entire world, infecting more than 42 lakh people. But India will not give up or accept defeat. The government has urged the countrymen to promote swadeshi products and motivate others too in buying local products.
“We expect Apple to produce up to $40 billion worth of smartphones, mostly for exports through its contract manufacturers Wistron and Foxconn, availing the benefits under the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme,” a senior government official told the publication.
It is speculated that Apple is going to establish its retail store in India soon, which is likely to be located in Mumbai’s Maker Maxity mall in Bandra Kurla Complex. This store in Mumbai is expected to be the largest store in India.
With several tech companies getting much more serious about shifting their manufacturing outside China, India is one of the top countries that is making space more attracting for smartphone makers to make the switch.
The Indian government has done something great that would make way for boosting manufacturing in India.
Officials aware about the discussion said in a statement to ET, “The empowered committee of secretaries met on Friday and decided to remove the clause, which evaluated plant and machinery brought into India at 40% of its value, and has agreed to a few other changes so that manufacturing could shift to India in a big way.”
The official also revealed that Indian authorities are also in advanced talks with a third Apple manufacturer dubbed Pegatron to shift a part of its manufacturing facility to India.