Apple’s assembly partner Pegatron Corp is gearing up to set its first production plant in India. The move is the latest news in the series of large-scale tech investments being put into India. Back in June, the Indian government planned setting up incentives for some of the world’s top smartphone manufacturers to set up camp in India. The plan, worth USD 6.6 billion offered companies ready-to-use manufacturing clusters. Also Read – Apple Days set to kick off from midnight on Amazon India; deals on iPhone 11, 8 Plus, MacBook, Watch
As mentioned in a report by Times of India, Pegatron is now setting up a local subsidiary and joining other Taiwanese electronics assemblers Foxconn and Wistron. The two names are major manufacturers of Apple iPhones, and already have camps set up in India. However, the Pegatron move is huge. The Taiwanese company is the second-largest assembler of Apple iPhones, in fact depending on the company for over half its business. After a number of factories set up in neighboring country China, India is the next big target for Pegatron. This hardly comes as a surprise after the intensifying of the ongoing US-China trade war, which might hurt brands like US-based Apple which get caught in the crossfire. Also Read – TSMC to manufacture Apple Silicon processors for Mac ARMs: Report
The new Pegatron factory will be set up somewhere in Southern India, suggests the report. Moreover, existing assemblers Foxconn and Wistron are also looking to reportedly expand their operations in India. Also Read – Apple iOS 13.6 update lets your phone unlock and start your car using NFC
How will this affect Apple and its sales in India?
With more localized assembly in place, we could see more Apple iPhones getting cheaper. The assembling inside the country would mean reduced prices compared to importing pre-assembled devices. Which Apple iPhone models will be locally produced at the new factory remains to be seen. Apple already assembles select iPhone variants within India at other factories by fellow Taiwanese assemblers.
We reported recently that Wistron was to begin production of the recently launched budget-oriented iPhone SE 2020 in India. Apple had, as per sources, asked one of its suppliers in China to start shipping components for the iPhone SE 2020 to its manufacturing partner Wistron in India. With the new Pegatron plant, Apple could set up localized assembly of more of its phones.