Apple Inc. may start manufacturing its products in India; Flickr
Apple Inc. may start manufacturing its products in India soon, said two senior government officials. According to them, because Apple Inc. is looking to expand its sales and presence in the South Asian countries, it is discussing with Indian Government the possibility of manufacturing.
A letter with the outline of plans was submitted to the government last month, reported The Wall Street Journal. According to a recent research from IDC, Indian smartphone market is expected to overtake the US market as world’s second-largest after China. This is inspiration enough for Apple to grow its market in India.
Manufacturing the products locally would enable them to open stores and capture more market share.
“Apple wants to emulate its China model in India,” said one of the officials with direct knowledge of the matter. “The company wants financial incentives, which the concerned government departments are looking into,” the official added; reported The Wall Street Journal.
In January 2016, Apple had announced that it had approached Indian Government with permission to open its stores here. Indian is eager to attract investments and create manufacturing facilities and jobs. It even loosened foreign-direct investment restrictions in June 2016.
Apple Inc. currently assembles its products in China through Foxconn Technology Group.A few other smartphone makers like Samsung Electronics Co. and Xiaomi Corp. have already started assembling their products in India.
Right now, Apple Inc. is selling its devices through a network made up of Indian-owned distribution companies and retailers.
