Apple to make iPhone 12 in India soon

The Phone 12 will soon have the Made in India branding on the retail package, as Apple confirmed that it would begin production of the 5G-enabled iPhone model in the country. Released in October last year alongside other 5G-ready iPhone 12 Pro, iPhone 12 Pro Max and iPhone 12 mini models.

This will be the fifth locally manufactured iPhone model after Apple started manufacturing iPhone SE, iPhone XR, iPhone SE 2020, and iPhone 11 in India some time ago. The iPhone 12 Made in India was on the cards for a long time, and we reported it in August of last year.

A Business Standard report says that the iPhone 12 will be manufactured at the facilities of Foxconn, its long-time partner, in Tamil Nadu. In particular, the same production plant makes the iPhone 11 and the iPhone XR. He added, citing analysts, that Apple is likely to move 7 to 10 per cent of China's production capacity. The report also mentioned that Apple plans to make the iPhone 12 mini at the same Foxconn facility in India, although a final decision is pending.

Confirming the development, in a statement, Apple said: "We are proud to be starting production of iPhone 12 in India for our local customers. Apple is dedicated to making the best products and services in the world to delight our customers."

In a report last month, Counterpoint Research claimed that despite a delay in the launch of the iPhone 12 series, the company posted a record number of sales in the final week of 2020. It said that the iPhone 12 could be the controller of volume in the long term. The market research firm added that Apple ranked sixth in the fourth quarter of 2020 in India's growth. He said the launch of the iPhone 12 series and discounts on older iPhone models fueled growth. The firm also added that Apple shipped more than 1.5 million units in a single quarter.

Taking advantage of the government's Production Linked Incentives (PLI) scheme, Apple has already partnered with Foxconn, Wistron and Pegatron.

The iPhone 12 currently sells at Rs 79,900 for the 64GB model, while the 128GB model is at Rs 84,900. The 256GB model of the iPhone 12 at Rs 94,900. Apple also launched its online store in India last year, now taking on Amazon and Flipkart in the e-commerce space.

The big question is whether Apple will pass on the benefits of the Make in India initiative to local customers in India. In our opinion, that's unlikely as Apple had previously made iPhone models domestically as well, but we haven't seen any price changes for the respective models. But that's been the case for Apple forever, and it's not tied to any specific country. This means that the iPhone 12 may not experience any price cuts thanks to production in India.