Apple Boosts iPhone Production In India

Apple’s iPhone XR is being assembled in India and will be sold in the country, according to reports.

Apple doesn’t have a huge share of the Indian market, partly because of regulations that serve a 20 percent tax on imported high-end phones like the iPhone. The move is meant to encourage companies to make phones locally, and that’s just what Apple did.

Now, Apple can sell the phone in the country without having to deal with the tariff. Earlier in the year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi possibly convinced Apple to make phones that could also be exported to Europe.

Ever since the ongoing trade war between the United States and China, Apple has been looking at other places to produce its phones.

“India will be more attractive, particularly in the light of what is developing between the U.S. and China,” Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal.

The iPhone XR is a lower cost option to Apple’s popular line of smartphones, and the India-made ones can be sold almost anywhere in the world.

Earlier in the month, increased demand for iPhone 11 prompted Apple to step up production by about 10 percent.

“Previously, Apple was quite conservative about placing orders,” which were less than for last year’s new iPhone, a source told Nikkei Asian Review. “After the increase, prepared production volume for the iPhone 11 series will be higher compared to last year.”

The lower-priced iPhone 11 models are selling faster than the iPhone 11 Pro Max, which has a starting price of $1,099.

“Demand is good for now,” a source said. “But we have to be careful not to be too optimistic. I hope that this year’s peak season lasts longer than last year.”

On Oct. 11, Apple CEO Tim Cook told the German newspaper Bild that the iPhone 11 enjoyed a “very strong start.”

JPMorgan upped its estimate of how many iPhones would sell before the end of this year to 1 million more sales than forecasted earlier. It also raised Apple’s target price.