Apple Mulls Shifting Almost Fifth Of Its Production Capacity To India: Reports

The global tech giant is expected to produce “up to $40 billion worth of smartphones" in India, mostly for exports.

Photo: AFP

New Delhi, May 11: In a big move that can boost employment opportunities in India, technology giant Apple Inc is considering to shift almost a fifth of its production capacity from China to India, as per reports. The company wants to take benefit of the government’s new production-linked incentives to support local production in the country, according to ET Times report. At present, the company has contract manufacturers such as Foxconn and Wistron, for production of smartphones and other products. The global tech giant is expected to produce “up to $40 billion worth of smartphones" in India, mostly for exports. What is PLI scheme? India is trying to win some of the global companies trying to shift base from China or expand. In March, the government had notified three schemes with incentives up to Rs 48,000 crore to boost mobile phone manufacturing in the country. The production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme has a share of close to Rs 41,000 crore with sops to be spread over three years. How will that benefit Apple? At the moment it has a small share of the Indian smartphone market and shifting a major portion of its production in India will be only meant for export. It produces iPhone 7 and iPhone XR in India, while models such as iPhone SE and iPhone 6S were discontinued from its global product portfolio Even as the reports are still not confirmed from the company but the company has been able to create a mark in the Indian smartphone market. According to International Data Corporation (IDC) report, Apple has acquired 62.7 per cent of the market share in India’s premium smartphone market in the last quarter. The company would also take advantage of the ease given on local sourcing norms by the government last year. It has praised the government for the step. Also, the company is trying to firm up its retail sale in the country through resellers in India but has not managed to launch its own stores. In a call with investors in February, Apple chief executive officer (CEO), Tim Cook, had said first Apple retail store is expected in 2021.