Apple Inc has decided to assemble its latest offering, the iPhone SE 2020 in India. The US giant has been assembling its older models in the country for the last three years. Wistron and Foxconn are their manufacturing partners in that country. The present contract for the iPhone SE 2020 is likely to be bagged by Wistron. The Indian government imposes a higher import duty if the phones were brought in as assembled pieces. This higher impost could be as much as 20%. Apple finds it difficult to sell its models at such high prices in the price-sensitive Indian market. There is a lot of focus on “Make in India” with incentives if the companies set up their manufacturing facilities within the country.
Apple Has Advised the Components Makers to Ship to India
Apple has been having an extended dialogue with the government of India to permit it to import its iPhones at lower rates of duty with the promise that it will keep increasing the indigenously made parts and components gradually. The Indian government has not obliged. Some of the older models like the iPhone 6 and the iPhone 7 are already being assembled in India. If the making of the iPhone Se 2020 starts, then this may possibly be the first time the making of the latest model is being shifted to India.
As mentioned, there are incentives for making electronic products in India and these are production-linked.
The information on this development has been carried in Apple Insider quoting sources. Many details relating to Apple’s products are leaked through supply chain sources. This may also be one such leak.
Apple has launched its new budget iPhone internationally at $399. In India however, the device is sold at Indian Rupees 42,500 (64GB variant; 128GB and 256GB variants are priced higher). This converts to around $560. This may be one of the reasons for the company deciding to get it assembled in India itself. It may be able to reduce this price considerably once production commences here. It is important to remember that the Indian market was one of the key areas in Apple’s target while launching the iPhone SE 2020.
For the record, the iPhone SE 2020 comes with a 4.7-inch Retina display of the True Tone IPS type in HD. The screen resolution is 750×1334 pixels. The key component, the processor is the A13 Bionic chipset. This is the same processor that the users of the iPhone 11 models enjoy on their devices.