Apple & Wistron Get Ministry’s Nod to Make iPhone X in India

The company will rely on Wistron and Foxconn to make premium iPhones and sell it without added cost of custom duty.

Apple’s bid to make in India has got a big boost this week, as Wistron’s aim to expand its manufacturing facility in the country has got the Ministry’s nod.

The Bengaluru-based company has already been making the affordable iPhone SE and 6S for the Indian market but after investing over Rs 5,000 crore on its facility, it will start making iPhone 8 and probably iPhone X for the country as well.

The announcement of the project was made by Ravi Shankar Prasad, India’s IT Minister, who was quoted saying in The Economic Times on 7 March, 2019. In addition to Wistron, he also said that Foxconn is also looking to invest in a Rs 2,500-worth project, probably to scale up its own production set up in the country.

Up until now, Apple has been content with assembling of its low-tier devices like the iPhone SE and iPhone 6S in India. But in order to boost its sales and revenue figures from India, locally-assembled premium iPhone models need to become affordable, to appeal to consumers in the country.

We have just approved Wistron’s Rs 5,091-crore application and it is with the Cabinet now. Wistron will make the latest iPhone models 

Ravi Shankar Prasad, India’s IT Minister

Apple’s made repeated demands from the Indian government to offer tax breaks to its contract manufacturers, the same conditions the company has asked for itself.

The Cupertino-based giant believes that their state-of-art technology, which will be imported into the country for the manufacturing of iPhones, ensures making of top-quality handsets. While the minister hasn’t elaborated on giving any incentives to the company, it’ll be interesting to see which direction Apple decides to take, with Wistron on board and helping it save on customs and import duty.

Local assembling of the iPhone 6S and SE has worked to good effect for Apple, and Tim Cook (or Tim Apple as Donald Trump would say) would be hoping for similar results with the make in India variants of iPhone 8 and the iPhone X.