Apple has no plans to manufacture any other iPhone in India except the SE, according to a report by ET.
“Apple Inc. will stick to making iPhone SE model at its Bengaluru plant for some more time and has no immediate plan to assemble its flagships iPhone 7 and 7 Plus in the country, government officials aware of the matter said.”
Apple had started manufacturing iPhone SE in India earlier last month. These phones are already hitting the market with an “Assembled in India” branding.
We had expected Apple to also start producing other versions of iPhone in India. Unfortunately, that doesn’t seem to be Apple’s plans. Apple is thinking, for now, to concentrate its energies on manufacturing only the SE here.
The reasoning behind Apple’s decision is exports. Apple wants to export iPhone SE made in India to other markets. In a way, that’s better for also, because a positive trade would mean an impetus for Apple to increase its scale of production in India; perhaps extend to other Apple products as well.
“Apple Inc. will focus on SE model both for India and overseas markets. It is looking to start exports from India,” the person told ET.
Some analysts suggest that Apple will focus on exports to woo the Indian government, which will perhaps get them the green light on importing refurbished phones.
What’s Apple’s long term strategy is certainly open for debate. But we can trust Apple to come up with an ingenious marketing plan for the iPhone in India.