While Apple first began manufacturing the iPhone in India earlier this year, it’s looking to expand those efforts now. According to a new report from The Economic Times, India’s Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu would be “very happy” for Apple to expand its presence in India…
We first heard talk of a new iPhone SE model back in August, and a new report today echoes this. Labelling it the iPhone SE 2, the Chinese report suggests that it will be exclusively manufactured by Wistron in India, though for worldwide sale …
iPhone assembler Wistron, is preparing to expand its manufacturing operations in India. It follows Apple announcing during its recent earnings call that revenue in the country had doubled year-on-year.
India is a key market for Apple, representing huge growth potential, but with a number of challenges …
Apple has quietly introduced an international warranty on iPhones sold within India. Previously, you could only get warranty repairs on phones bought within the country, but you’re now covered wherever it was bought.
There are, however, a couple of catches …
Apple’s long-standing request to open its own retail stores in India looks likely to be approved by the Indian government after Chinese brand Oppo was granted permission. Apple products are currently sold locally by authorized resellers.
The Indian government only allows single-brand retail stores when at least 30% of the products sold are manufactured in the country. As the iPhone accounts for a high percentage of Apple’s sales, with the SE a popular model in India because of its relative affordability, it seems likely that the requirement will be hit thanks to local manufacturing of the model …
Apple’s refusal to approve a government anti-spam app for use on the iPhone in India is reportedly ‘infuriating’ regulators, who are now hinting that the company could be forced into cooperating.
The government app allows customers to report cold calls and spam texts to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India. Apple refused to approve it, seemingly on privacy grounds, as the app would need access to call logs …
An Indian regulatory body has described Apple as ‘anti-consumer’ after the Cupertino company refused to approve a government Do-Not-Disturb app designed to block and report unwanted sales calls …
Apple has asked the Indian government to extend the tax breaks it has been granted for its own operations to its suppliers. This would enable the company to move from mere iPhone assembly in India – with the actual parts still made in China – to more of a true manufacturing operation.
We described recently how Apple relies on an entire network of suppliers centred around the Chinese city of Shenzhen. Tim Cook’s discussions with Indian prime minister Narendra Modi have extended to establishing a kind of Little Shenzhen within India …
Now that local iPhone production is underway in India, with the first ‘Assembled in India’ iPhones on sale, Apple will be hoping that it has shown it can meet the required conditions to open its own retail stores in the country. Apple products are currently sold only through third-party authorised resellers.
Details have now emerged of a meeting on Sunday between Apple CEO Tim Cook and Indian prime minister Narendra Modi …
The first iPhones assembled in India started reaching retail stores the day after Apple confirmed that production had begun, and are now reportedly showing up in many Indian cities. However, hopes that local production would lead to lower prices have not yet been realized …
Apple is reported to have finally succeeded in getting one of the tax concessions it had sought in return for assembling iPhones in India. The company had long been seeking a range of incentives in return for setting up an iPhone plant in the country.
Apple had originally wanted the concessions before beginning production, but decided to go ahead with or without them. Local production of the iPhone SE started earlier this month …
India may be a small market for Apple right now, but the latest Kantar data shows why the company is placing such an emphasis on the country. While worldwide smartphone growth is just 3%, smartphone penetration in India grew by 16% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2017.
Purchase intention also shows great prospects for Apple …
Apple has been working with the local government in India for quite a while to bring iPhone manufacturing local and initiate direct hardware sales. Now a new report claims Apple will start selling the iPhone directly in India later this year, but only certain models and only online.
Google Play Music’s streaming music service has launched in India, undercutting Apple Music’s dramatically discounted subscription in the country, as both companies play the long game.
Phil Schiller has announced the official opening of Apple’s iOS App Design and Development Accelerator in Bengaluru, India. The center is designed to provide free guidance, inspiration and one-on-one app reviews for local developers.
https://twitter.com/pschiller/status/847719929373577217
The company first promised the center back in May of last year, the company explaining then why it had chosen the location …
The WSJ reports that while the Indian government has rejected most of Apple’s demands for concessions, the company will go ahead with iPhone manufacturing in the country – and that production will begin within 4-6 weeks …
India’s Economic Times reports that Apple will begin assembling iPhones in India whether or not the government agrees to the incentives it has requested. The report also supports a recent report that the location of the first plant will be in Bengaluru, Karnataka.
Apple will kick off its India manufacturing plans by initially assembling 3-400,000 units of its iPhone SE model at the Karnataka plant being set up by contract manufacturer Wistron, as the maker of the iconic iPhones looks to take a deeper bite of a key market amid slowing global smartphone growth […]
A person in the contract manufacturing industry said Wistron is ready to start assembling the phones. “The duty concessions are not connected to the plant,” the person added.
Apple is said to be keen to press ahead with the plan without delay for two reasons …
Apple has been working with India over the past several months on plans to make iPhones in the country, and now it appears a location for manufacturing has been decided: Bengaluru. Formerly called Bangalore, Bengaluru is known as the ‘IT capital of India’ and serves as the home of Apple’s 40,000 square foot iOS app development accelerator office space.
If you were in any doubt why Apple was going to so much trouble to deepen its foothold in India, new figures from Counterpoint Research provide the answer. While the global smartphone market grew only 3% last year, smartphone shipments in India grew by 18%.
The growing middle class in the country also meant that, for the first time, there were no Indian brands in the top five as consumers start to spend more on their handsets. There was also good news for Apple …
A proposal for Apple to manufacture iPhones in India in return for permission to open retail stores in the country is ‘almost a done deal’ according to a government official. His comment to the WSJ follows a meeting today between a team of Apple execs led by VP Priya Balasubramaniam and senior Indian government officials …
As Apple gears up to begin manufacturing iPhones in India as part of a deal to open retail stores in the country, it’s being reported that its main assembler – Foxconn – will not be the lead supplier. Instead, a company with existing smartphone manufacturing facilities in the country, Wistron, is said to have been selected by Apple as its primary supplier in India.
It’s not the first time we’ve heard iPhone-related rumors about Wistron …
Just a day after a pair of reports shed more light on Apple’s progress in starting a manufacturing presence in India, a new report from Reuters offers a few new details. The report claims that while some Indian officials are eager to have Apple in the country, others aren’t convinced at this point.
The most interesting tidbit, however, is that Apple executives will be meeting with Indian government officials next week to discuss plans…
It appears that the Indian government may have found a creative way to agree to Apple’s request for financial incentives to manufacture iPhones within the country – without being seen to give special treatment to one particular company. Apple had asked for a number of concessions, including a 15-year import duty on iPhone components, manufacturing equipment and consumables.
Earlier reports had described conflicts between different government departments with differing objectives. The IT and industry ministries wanted to agree to Apple’s terms, as it would be a big win to sign up the world’s largest company to its Made In India program, while the finance ministry was reluctant to lose the import duty revenue.
Two reports today suggest that the government may have found a creative way out of the impasse …