High-end iPhones produced and assembled by Foxconn’s local unit in India are prospected to hit stores next month. The move could potentially help Apple implement a price drop in the world’s second-biggest smartphone.
While a number of approvals are pending, the iPhone XR and XS devices produced in India are to hit the market by August, a source voiced its anticipations.
There was no immediate response from Apple, while Foxconn refused to do so as it does not comment on their customers products.
Focusing on the expansion of local assembly will aid the iPhone-maker save on high taxes charged on the import of final products. It will also meet local sourcing standards for establishing its own Indian retail stores.
Apple devices are sought by millions of patrons in India, but its premium pricing has restricted its market share’s growth to a meager 1% to rivals’ gains.
Previously, it was reported that the local unit of Hon Hai Precision Industry Co, or more popularly known as Foxconn, would begin assembly of the iPhone X family devices this year in Tamil Nadu, India’s southern state.
The California-based company also assembles the cheaper SE, 6S, and 7 iPhone models in India through Wistron Corp’s local unit, located in the tech hub of Bengaluru.
“Local production will give Apple the leeway to play with the margins of their distributors and indirectly price their phones lower,” stated Canalys Research Director Rushabh Doshi.
The Damage Inflicted on Apple by the Trade War
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has tried to situate the third-largest economy of South Asia as a smartphone manufacturing hub. This attracted key market players with access to a market with cheap labor and over a billion wireless connections.
This push has encountered success as major global smartphone titans such as Samsung and Oppo have expanded swiftly in India, while contract manufactures like Foxconn have boosted local operations.
Outside pleasing domestic demand, Apple and companies of the same nature also use India as an export hub in order to soften Sino-U.S. trade war impacts, according to tech analysts.
The smartphone giant has cut its fiscal Q1 sales forecast and blamed decelerating iPhone sales in China, stricken with the impacts of the tariff wars, which has severely hurt the economy.
Some iPhones—6S and 7—assembled in Wistron, are being exported from Indian markets to European ones, according to Neil Shah, a tech researcher at Counterpoint.
However, Apple hasn’t been able to shove its iPhone sales further. One major reason behind this is that the its phones are ridiculously high-priced. Its 2018 flagship phones, the iPhone XS and iPhone XR, were incredibly out of reach for most Indian smartphone patrons.
Brands like Samsung and OnePlus have, without a doubt, been offering equally powerful devices at significantly lower prices, making iPhone fall behind the competition, hence the drop in its sales.
On the bright side, Apple seems to be working on this issue and India might pave the way for Apple to get back on track and gain lost opportunities starting next month.
At this point, there is much to be seen on the future of Apple and how it decides to address its challenges concerning pricing. Among these concerns is how it tries to gain its market share in the premium smartphone segment over in India.