Apple To Produce iPhone 11 At Foxconn Plant in India

Bengaluru: India’s Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal confirmed the manufacturing of Apple’s iPhone 11 will now take place at the Foxconn plant in Chennai.

The decision by Apple is a “significant boost to ‘Make in India!’ Apple has started manufacturing iPhone 11 in India, bringing a top-of-the-line model for the first time to the country,” Goyal tweeted.

iPhone 11 is the biggest Apple seller to date in India.

In 2019, the firm had started assembling the iPhone XR in India, and in 2017, Apple initiated the domestic manufacturing of the Apple iPhone SE 2016, at its Bangalore plant.

The latest move is an exercise to reduce Apple’s dependence on China at a time Sino-US ties have soured noticeably.

The making of the iPhone 11 in India will now help the firm to save 22% on import duty which could lead to a reduction in prices. Apple may also consider exporting the phones from India to other markets.

Moreover, Apple is now reportedly considering starting the manufacture of the iPhone SE at the Wistron plant in Bengaluru – the same facility at which it plans to make its iPhone SE 2020.

Prior to the development of the iPhone 11, Apple was already manufacturing its iPhone XR (Review) at the Foxconn plant, and the iPhone 7 at the Wistron factory.

Earlier this month, Foxconn announced its plans to invest up to US$1 billion to expand its India factory where it assembles iPhone models.

Editor’s note: This article first appeared in the NFAPost and is republished with permission

Mark Buckton

Mark is a journalism vet of 20 years with most of those years spent in Tokyo, Japan, as a columnist for The Japan Times and numerous other publications. His work has appeared on CNN, in the BBC, NPR, and in several dozen other media forms and publications across five continents.