Another Apple phone with the Made in India tag will be seen on the stores and online platforms soon after the iPhone SE. This time it is the iPhone 6s and the device is being assembled in the Indian facility of Wistron in Bengaluru. Wistron is a Taiwanese contract manufacturer like the popular phone maker Foxconn of China. It is learnt that Wistron has set up a couple of dedicated assembly lines for iPhone 6s at its facility and full-scale production has already commenced.
Though Apple has not come forward to make any official comment on the matter, reports indicate that though assembled in India, these phones will continue to be sold at the price points at which the imported ones are sold, since the capacity at Wistron may not be sufficient to meet the market requirements in full and part quantities will still be imported and sold.
It has also been reported that Apple, which found its market share in the higher segments of the smartphone markets in India slide in recent times, will be able to gain some lost ground with the launch of the locally made phones in the 6 series iPhones segment.
This report, by a Hong Kong based research firm reveals that the 6 series phones are more popular in India with upwards of 30% sales being contributed by them as against just 15% by the iPhone SE devices. Apple has also lost out due to the increase in Customs duty on smartphones and components announced by the Government of India. Apple has had to increase the prices of its devices also correspondingly. Samsung’s launch of the Galaxy S9 has also pushed the volumes of some of the Apple phones in the premium segment down. Others, like China’s OnePlus are also knocking at the premium segment with reasonable success.
With Apple mulling the addition of more models to the Made in India category, Wistron is expected to expand its capacity to accommodate the orders from Apple.