It looks like Apple has started assembling its iPhone in India. Reports suggest that few units of iPhone SE are available across the country with an ‘assembled in India’ tag. When it comes to the pricing, you’re getting the 32GB variant for Rs 27,200 while the 128GB can be yours for Rs 37,200.
Considering the iPhone SE was launched in India for Rs 39,999 (for the 32GB), this is a definite price drop, and seemingly gives us first indication that the few iPhone SE units have made it to the market. This WSJ journalist has spotted two units of the 32GB iPhone SE with the tag on Friday.
Also Read: Review: Apple iPhone SE – New-ish Wine, Old Bottle?
As you can see, the back of the box says, “Designed in California, Assembled in India.”
But does the price cut have anything to do with the Apple assembling the iPhone SE in India? No.
Just head over to the iPhone section on the Apple India website, and you’ll see that the marked price or MRP of both 32 and 128GB variants is not much cheaper than the price before the “assembled in India” phones made their debut.
One has to understand that, merely assembling the iPhone in India isn’t going to bring down its price. Apple doesn’t like differentiating prices as per markets, which means you’ll pay the same for the iPhone which is assembled in India or China.
However, what’ll make a difference to the price is when Apple locally starts manufacturing, for which they need the Indian government to bless it with multiple tax exemptions, paving the way for easy import duties, helping them import state-of-art technology at reasonable price.
But that’s still a long way off, as both Apple and the Modi government are yet to find a middle ground to agree on.
For Rs 27,200 you can go for the OnePlus 3, or the slew of options Samsung has to offer. But if you aspire to buy the iPhone, the iPhone SE is a good gateway to the Apple clan.
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