Your next iPhone could be made in India
It's becoming very possible that your next iPhone may be made in India.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the largest Apple iPhone manufacturer, Foxconn, is currently looking into plans to assemble the devices in India. Foxconn is the Taiwanese company contracted by Apple to manufacture the iPhone.
Foxconn executives are currently determining whether the company should include “an India project” in its budget, people familiar with the matter told the Wall Street Journal. The plan would see even Apple’s high-end smartphone models produced in the world’s second most populous country.
Earlier reports out of India hinted at the possible change late last year. According to The Hindu, Foxconn was planning to begin manufacturing iPhones out of a plant in Sriperumbudur in early 2019. While the plan seems unlikely to occur that soon, senior Foxconn officials are planning to visit India next month, according to the WSJ.
The Wall Street Journal also confirms another country, Vietnam, as a possible manufacturing site.
Foxconn wouldn’t be the first of Apple’s contracted manufacturers to bring iPhone production to India. Wistron Corp. produces lower-end Apple smartphone models such as the iPhone SE and iPhone 6S in the country.
The plan to move iPhone manufacturing to India is an effort by Foxconn, as well as Apple, to avoid the effects of the trade war between the U.S. and China. However, the project could help Apple make headway within the Indian market.
Due to the already high price tag of Apple’s newer high-end smartphone models, as well as a 20 percent tariff added on to devices imported from China, Apple has struggled in India. The company dropped from an already small 2 percent of India’s smartphone market share to 1 percent last year.
