The India-made iPhones are projected to make up 12 per cent to 14 per cent of Apple’s worldwide iPhone shipments in 2023, says a leading Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. He also envisions a growing significance of the Indian market for Apple in the near future. He suggests that, subject to favourable conditions, Apple could increase its iPhone shipments from India to represent 20 per cent to 25 per cent of its global total next year.
Kuo’s projection of India-made iPhones will account for at least 20 per cent also aligns with a previous JPMorgan forecast, from last year, that Apple might transition 25 per cent of its total iPhone production to India by 2025.
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Kuo disclosed that Foxconn currently holds a substantial share of India’s iPhone production capacity, estimated to be between 75 per cent and 80 per cent. However, this landscape is anticipated to evolve as the Indian conglomerate, Tata Group, embarks on iPhone manufacturing using the Wistron production facilities it has recently acquired in the country.
He added that Apple can strengthen its relationship with the Indian government by making Tata an iPhone assembler as the latter has recently acquired Wistron’s iPhone production lines in India. This move will not only help Apple in future sales of its products but will also keep Apple in a safe position for, at least, over the next decade.
The relationship between Apple Inc. and India Inc. has bettered over the past few years. The California-based tech giant recently opened two official retail stores in India: one in New Delhi and another in Mumbai. Furthermore, reports also surfaced that Apple shook hands with the country’s largest private bank by assets, HDFC Bank to launch Apple Pay in India.
Initiatives such as “Make in India”, “Digital India” and PM Modi’s push to courting major companies in the country have contributed in the project. Apple’s big rival Google has also made plans to begin manufacturing Pixel smartphones in India.
India-neighbour and one of the major hubs of manufacturing, China is likely to see a decline in Foxconn’s production capacity in Zhengzhou and Taiyuan by an estimated 35 per cent to 45 per cent and 75 per cent to 85 per cent, respectively, said Ming-Chi Kuo. He elaborated that the reduction in production scale is primarily due to the combination of Luxshare’s significant increase in iPhone order allocation and enhancements in production line automation, alongside the expansion of production in India
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