"The new iPhone 14 lineup features innovative technologies and important security features. We are excited to be making the iPhone 14 in India”, pointed out the North American technological giant, in a statement.
India is the second largest smartphone market in the world after China. Apple has struggled to capture a larger share of the market, in the face of cheaper products produced by the competition.
The California-based company's announcement also fits in with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's goals of boosting the local manufacturing sector.
The manufacture of the latest model of the iPhone 14 it will be handled by Foxconn, a large iPhone maker whose facilities are on the outskirts of Chennai, a city in southern India.
Apple is expected to move around 5% of its iPhone 14 production to India from the end of this year, increasing to 25% by 2025, according to a report by JP Morgan, quoted by the Press Trust of India news agency.
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Analysts expect nearly a quarter of all Apple products to be manufactured outside of China by 2025, up from 5% today.
Disruptions in supply chains, brought about by preventive measures against covid-19, as part of China's 'zero cases' strategy, are driving relocation efforts, which will continue over the next two to three years, the report said.
"Apple has been trying to diversify its supply chain for some time, but those efforts have grown in the last couple of years due to the US-China trade war.”, said Sanyam Chaurasia, analyst at market analysis agency Canalys.
Last year, the tech giant manufactured around 7 million iPhones in India.
Canalys pointed out that the plan to manufacture more iPhones in India could also lead Apple to lower its prices for the Indian market, making it more competitive.
Most of Apple's products are assembled in China, but the company began asking manufacturers in 2020 to look into the possibility of shifting some production to Southeast Asia or elsewhere after repeated shutdowns prompted by anti-virus measures. to covid-19, having interrupted their global flow of products.
Apple is also planning to manufacture some of its products in Vietnam.
