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Apple will be selling its new smartphones made in India on the launch day of the iPhone 15 series. This is the first time Cupertino will do this, as it used to rely entirely on Chinese-manufactured iPhones during the series debuts in the past years.
According to a report by Bloomberg, the iPhones made in India will be offered to the country’s local market and other places. It is not clear, however, what locations will receive the units India has produced.
In the past, Foxconn’s factories in India used to produce iPhones six to nine months behind China. Generally, the country was assigned to the production of old iPhone models, but this changed in iPhone 14, wherein the gap was reduced to less than two months. Then, it was reported in August that a Foxconn Technology Group plant in Sriperumbudur, Tamil Nadu, started its production process for the new iPhone 15 smartphones. This is the first time the country has manufactured a new iPhone series before Apple’s announcement.
A week later, a report claimed that Apple was considering either launching the iPhone 15 series in India just a few days after its global unveiling or introducing it on the same launch day. Needless to say, Apple has chosen the latter, allowing customers to get the new iPhone models that are manufactured in India. This can be considered a success for India, which Apple now reportedly considers as “one of the key investment countries” in the smartphone industry. The country now owns 7% of the total number of iPhones manufactured globally.
This is also a success for Apple, which is trying to reduce its reliance on China through its diversification plans for its iPhone manufacturing deals. This resulted in various investments of Apple’s partners in India in hopes of building more sites that can cater to iPhone assembly orders in the future. Apple also communicated with the country’s government to further elaborate on its future iPhone business plans. Back in August, top representatives of Apple reportedly met the Indian Finance Ministry officials. No specific details were shared, but it was revealed that one of the key points in the discussion pointed to “how India’s policies could be aligned to support this initiative” involving iPhone manufacturing.
