To further gain independence from China, Apple will build its latest iPhone 14 in India. “We are excited to be producing the iPhone 14 in India,” the California company said Monday.
Apple started assembling smartphones locally in India in 2017, but until this year used its manufacturing facilities to assemble older devices. With the iPhone 14, Apple is now producing its current model series for the first time in the same calendar year in the world’s second largest smartphone market, “TechCrunch” reports. The device is manufactured by Foxconn at the Sriperumbudur factory near Chennai. The locally produced iPhones would go on sale later in the year.
Analysts expect Apple to make India a global iPhone manufacturing hub by 2025 to reduce its dependence on China, where it has been manufacturing most of its devices for more than a decade. Analysts at JP Morgan expect Apple to move about five percent of iPhone 14 production to India by the end of 2022. The presence of the foreign manufacturing giants, coupled with “abundant labor resources and competitive labor costs” make India a desirable location, it said.
Apple rival Samsung already considers India a major global manufacturing hub and has built one of the largest factories in the country. Chinese smartphone makers Xiaomi, Oppo, Vivo and OnePlus also manufacture some of their handsets locally in India. Google is also planning to move some production of its Pixel smartphones to India, as “The Information” recently reported. The company, which has not shipped flagship models in India for two generations, recently announced plans to launch the upcoming Pixel 7 models in India.
Source: Krone
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
