Apple Inc. will begin assembling its signature brand, iPhones in India via the Foxconn local unit early next year, according to Reuters. This will mark the first time the Taiwanese contract manufacturer will assembly the product in another country.
Foxconn already makes phones for Xiaomi Corp in India and will spend $356 million to expand the plant, including making investments in iPhone production, according to M C Sampath, Tamil Nadu’s Industries Minister.
Foxconn will manufacture iPhones most expensive models, like devices in the flagship iPhone X clan, this will possibly take Apple’s business in India to a new level. This will take place at Foxconn’s plant in Sriperumbudur town in the southern state of Tamil Nadu and is projected to create as many as 25,000 jobs, a source told Reuters.
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This plan is an attempt that could help both Foxconn and Apple reduce the impact of the trade war between the United State and China.
Apple launched the expensive iPhone X in 2017 but has cut the production, says industry analysts, since it started selling the latest versions – iPhone XS and XR, globally this year.
Nevertheless, Apple could get Foxconn to make the iPhone X version in India where it sells cheaper models so as to get a bigger share of the world’s fastest-growing major mobile phone market.
“Widening iPhone manufacturing in India through Foxconn will allow Apple to hedge the risk of any new U.S. trade policies,” said Navkendar Singh, an associate research director at International Data Corporation.