Apple is looking into beginning the assembly of iPhone in India by the end of this year's 1st quarter. The tech giant will be working together with a Taiwanese company.
Phone production in India to start by end of April 2017. Apple will start production of its iPhones in Bangalore by the end of April of this year under a manufacturing arrangement with Taiwanese manufacturer Wistron. The decision was made even before the receiving approval from the federal government.
The approval is for a proposal that covers the lowering of import duties. Another proposal is for the creation of an ecosystem comprised of local manufacturers who can supply the company with the smartphone's parts and components.
Following the decision, Karnataka, an Indian state of which Bangalore is the capital, has announced the tech giant's plans to manufacture iPhones in the city. The company has already been cleared to make the smartphone in Bangalore according to Priyank Kharge, state minister for information technology. He further added that the validation of this news is an example of Bangalore's industry-friendly policies
In addition, Kharge mentioned that having a global tech company manufacture its products in the state will benefit employment in the field of app development and artificial intelligence. This is in line with the company's announcement last year of setting up a facility that will provide app developers with best practices and help in improving app design around the iOS platform.
The tech giant did not immediately comment on the state's announcement although the company has long planned to manufacture its iPhones in India. In addition, the tech giant is also looking into setting up retail stores in the country seeing that the local market is booming.
iPhone sales in India were up by 50 percent during the fiscal year 2016 compared to the previous year. The roll-out of 4G networks in the country is expected to result in an even higher demand for Apple devices.
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