Apple iPhoneSE 2020 is now Made In India
Apple has started assembling the iPhone SE 2020 in India. Apple’s newest iPhone, which is also its most affordable new iPhone, is being made in India by Cupertino’s manufacturing partner Wistron. Wistron also makes the iPhone 7 in India in Bengaluru. The iPhone SE 2020 is notably the second “new” iPhone to be made in India, after Apple recently started manufacturing of the iPhone 11 in Chennai.
The move to make the iPhone SE 2020 locally by Apple is in direct response to the government of India’s production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme that has given fresh impetus to domestic manufacturing (and assembly) of smartphones in the country. There is also the whole Sino-US angle to consider. With the looming unrest around China, it is not surprising to see Apple, a US company, pushing to move more and more manufacturing outside of China. The iPhone SE 2020 models that Apple currently sells in India are all made in China.
It is not immediately clear (by) when the made in India iPhone SE 2020 stock will hit the market but it should possibly be soon now that assembly operations have begun.
The iPhone SE 2020 starts at Rs 42,500 for the base variant with 64GB storage going all the way to Rs 58,300 for the top-end model with 256GB storage. The 128GB version of the iPhone SE 2020 costs Rs 47,800.
Making the iPhone SE 2020 locally will help Apple save over 20% on import duty but whether it will also lead to price relaxations for customers is something that only time will tell.
The original iPhone SE was also made in India before it was phased out recently. Foxconn meanwhile makes the iPhone XR and iPhone 11 in Chennai.
Apple is clearly in the midst of its biggest India push at this point of time with CEO Tim Cook being quite vocal about India as a key market for the company’s growth even as it sees sales dip in its home market. It is working to bring its online store to India – this is expected this year. It is also working to open its first physical store here sometime in 2021.
More and more new iPhones being gradually added to the making in India list further cements the company’s growing interest in the world’s second largest smartphone market. The world’s second largest iPhone manufacturer, aka Pegatron, is also setting up a base for local assembly in India which should only ramp up Apple’s efforts further (via Bloomberg).
