Apple plans to assemble new iPhone SE in India to avoid high import duties

      Apple appears set to start assembling its new iPhone SE in India, which would allow it to avoid hefty taxes on smartphones imported into the country.

　　According to appleinsider, people familiar with the matter revealed that Apple has told at least one supplier in China to start shipping parts for the 2020 iPhone SE to its manufacturing partners in India. Assembling the new iPhone in India will enable the company to bypass high import taxes.

　　Over the past few years, there have been reports and rumors about Apple moving production to India. The previous generation iPhone SE was produced in the country until 2019, and producing the new, lower-priced 2020 iPhone SE in the country could serve the local market well.

　　However, the iPhone SE has a small price premium in India. In normalized dollar terms, the iPhone SE costs $560 in India, compared to $399 in the U.S., with carrier discounts already applied.

　　“We expect Apple to produce up to $40 billion worth of smartphones, primarily for export through its contract manufacturers Wistron and Foxconn,” an Indian government official claimed in May, “to take advantage of the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme.” The PLI scheme is designed to provide incentives to companies to encourage production in the region.

　　According to a report by The Information on Thursday morning, Apple's manufacturing partner for the 2020 iPhone SE is Wistron. Foxconn, another major Apple manufacturing partner, also has operations in India, but they do not appear to be involved in the assembly of the iPhone SE in India.

　　The news of the iPhone SE being assembled in India comes two weeks after the Indian government initiated an initiative to increase manufacturing in the region. Apple is reportedly looking to move about a fifth of its existing Chinese production to India following the loosening of taxes on factory equipment, which could equate to $40 billion in local manufacturing revenue over the next five years and could make Apple India’s largest exporter in the process.

　　Apple's interest in India spans more than five years.

　　Apple CEO Tim Cook and his entourage visited India in 2016. Cook said he learned a lot about Indian business and culture during his limited time in the country, two key factors that Apple must understand if it hopes to gain a foothold in the region.

　　In an interview shortly after the visit, Cook detailed Apple’s multi-pronged approach and discussed with the prime minister a comprehensive review of government operations, consumer culture, media, services and technical talent, which includes investments such as the opening of an iOS design and development center in Bengaluru and a map development facility in Hyderabad.

　　IT Home learned that Apple's manufacturing partners began assembling iPhones in India in 2017, and Apple's Indian subsidiary had sales of US$1.5 billion between March 2018 and March 2019.