Made-in-India iPhone 12 set to roll out next year Wistron to manufacture the device at new Karnataka facility ARNAB DUTTA New Delhi, 17 August GOING 24 companies Stepping up its thrust on manufacturing LOCAL plan Indian in India, American tech giant Apple is mobile phone planning to roll out locally made models of its upcoming iPhone 12 by the middle factories of next year, sources close to the devel- The government’s opment have said. This will be the sev- latest set of incentives enth iPhone model to be made in the to entice businesses country, giving a boost to Prime Minister Local production started in moving away from Narendra Modi’s Atmanirbhar vision. China seem to be Also, the local production of its latest working, with iPhone SE (2020) is expected to begin by 2017 2018 2019 companies from the end of this year. Till recently, iPhone iPhone SE iPhone iPhone 7 Samsung Electronics to production in India was limited to older Apple’s assembly models at a lower price tag. (1st Gen) 6S & XR partners such as So far, Apple has localised production Foxconn, Wistron of five smartphone models — iPhone SE and Pegatron showing (1st Gen), 6S, 7, XR and 11. Mid 2021 End 2020 Mid 2020 an interest in investing The Cupertino-headquartered firm’s iPhone iPhone SE* iPhone 11 in the South Asian manufacturing partner, Taiwan-based 12* (2nd Gen) nation. About two Wistron, has already begun a trial run for dozen companies have the iPhone 12 project at its new facility *Future plan Source: Industry pledged $1.5 billion of near Bengaluru. The contract manufac- investment to set up turer, with a planned investment of over some 10,000 workers at the new facility mobile-phone ~2,900 crore, has also initiated the hiring in a phased manner, while around 1,000 factories in India. 2 > process for the same. It plans to employ are already at work. Turn to Page 13 > > FROM PAGE 1 dependence on China. Initiatives such as Made in India iPhone... production linked incentive (PLI) scheme The plant has already received over half of have paved the way for further localisation. its planned investment and is expected to Currently, its largest partner Foxconn assem- be fully operational by October. bles iPhone 7, XR and 11 at its Sri City facili- Expansion of Wistron’s production ty near Hyderabad. The second generation capacity is in line with Apple’s mid-term SE handsets, launched in April, is currently goals - adding newer models quickly into its the cheapest iPhone available in the market ‘Made in India’ portfolio. Sources said while with a starting price of ~42,500. The iPhone the new facility in Narasapura (Karnataka) 12 (5G) range is expected to start at ~70,000. could be dedicated for the upcoming Analysts at IDC, a market intelligence iPhone 12, its existing plant in Bengaluru firm, pointed out that iPhone SE (2020) will be used to produce iPhone SE (2020). became one of the top five sold models in The American multinational had the above-~40,000 price range during the recently confirmed that its next-generation April-June quarter. “Apple continued to iPhone 12 would be delayed beyond dominate the segment with a market share September in global retail stores. ‘’Last year, of 48.8 per cent, followed by Samsung and we started selling iPhones in late OnePlus,” it said. ‘’Through the latest September. This year, we expect supply to launch of its most affordable iPhone SE be available a few weeks later,” Chief (2020), Apple is looking forward to encour- Financial Officer Luca Maestri had said in aging the transition of more users from an earnings call without giving reasons. Android to IOS to gain share in the overall Analysts attributed the delay to lower con- ecosystem. It kept the top spot in the seg- sumer demand and manufacturing hur- ment, driven by strong demand for iPhone dles during the pandemic. 11”, analysts at Counterpoint Research said. In a change in stand, Apple is now bet- In fact, the overwhelming response for ting on India aggressively. While it began iPhone 11 accelerated Apple’s plans for local local production with iPhone SE (1st Gen) in production of iPhone 12. Prior to that, two to 2017 at Wistron’s Bengaluru facility, it added three-year-old models used to drive sales. 6S a year later. However, both have now According to Counterpoint, Apple been discontinued as newer models like became one of the fastest-growing brands in XR and 11 became popular. The shift has left October-December 2019, driven by iPhone capacity at Wistron’s facilities unutilised. 11 and XR. “Multiple price cuts on its XR The move to produce iPhone 12 in India (launched in 2018) device, thanks to man- is part of Apple’s long-term plan to reduce ufacturing in India, helped. Additionally, 2019 saw the fastest rollout of Apple’s new iPhones (11 series) in > BS SUDOKU # 3132 India, with aggressive pricing and a good channel strategy.’’ Very hard: .