Apple Said to be in Talks With India to Manufacture Locally

[MacRumors]

Apple is in talks with India to explore the possibility of making products locally, according to The Wall Street Journal (via Reuters).

The negotiations come as Prime Minister Narendra Modi tries to boost his 'Make in India' initiative, with Apple eager to make deeper inroads into the world's second largest mobile market.

In June, Modi ordered his government to exempt foreign retailers for three years from a requirement to locally source 30 percent of goods solid in their stores.

According to The Journal, Apple sent a letter to India's federal government last month, outlining manufacturing plans and asking for financial incentives. Apple and Indian state representatives have yet to comment on the matter.

In September 2015, Apple CEO Tim Cook sat down with Prime Minister Modi to discuss various matters and Cook reportedly responded positively to Modi's invitation to open a manufacturing base in India. Foxconn was previously reported to be looking at the possibility of an expansion into India to produce iPhones and iPads, but Cook's outspoken interest in the possibility was Apple's first public interest in the expansion.

Apple has partnered with e-commerce giant Flipkart to sell the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus in India, where the phones launched in October.

Apple does not yet have a license to sell products directly to consumers in India, which has led to buyers going through third-party retail stores to get hold of the company's flagship phones. Apple's iPhones currently account for less than 2 percent of Indian smartphone sales.

Article Link: Apple Said to be in Talks With India to Manufacture Locally

 

[aussiephil]

This is great news considering how unfair the Chinese government is playing at the moment.

 

[Michaelgtrusa]

We all knew this.

 

[fitshaced]

Make India great again.

 

[MH01]

This was more obvious than the apple desktop roadmap.

 

[MrGuder]

I guess Tim really wasn't paying attention in that Trump meeting. Huh?

 

[friedkimchi]

With Mac Pros no longer in the road map, iMacs/laptops would be the logical choice to bring manufacturing to the US.

The high volume iPhones can eventually be shifted to India/Brazil to hedge against future negative government policies in China.

 

[macintoshmac]

Believe it or not, but India will be far more stable in terms of long term policies. We as country do not want "world dominance" as against our motivated neighbour. We're inviting manufacturing as a win-win for everybody, jobs for us and lower costs for manufacturers.

 

[Avieshek]

With Mac Pros no longer in the road map, iMacs/laptops would be the logical choice to bring manufacturing to the US.

Why? So iMac & MacBooks too, are no longer in the roadmap? Ever since the Mac Pro started manufacturing in the US, we all know what happened.

 

[macintoshmac]

Why? So iMac & MacBooks too, are no longer in the roadmap? Ever since the Mac Pro started manufacturing in the US, we all know what happened.

Production location of a product has got nothing to do with its fate. Mac Pro has always been an elite machine coveted by all, needed by some, bought by fewer still.

 

[alphaod]

This is great news considering how unfair the Chinese government is playing at the moment.

Please explain how the Indian government is more fair?

 

[konqueror4u]

So Apple is trying to reduce the production costs so that they can negate the impact of rising production costs in China and access to 1.3 billion market with locally manufactured affordable products sounds like good business strategy by apple to get access to worlds second largest smartphone market.

 

[szw-mapple fan]

This is great news considering how unfair the Chinese government is playing at the moment.

If you think the Indian government is any less protectionist or corrupt you are being extremely naive here.

 

[konqueror4u]

If you think the Indian government is any less protectionist or corrupt you are being extremely naive here.

Still India is worlds largest democracy which is better than communist China. if US is turning protectionist why not other countries? There is no easy way to get access to worlds second largest smartphone market. If we see from business perspective it is a great move. R&D costs involved in creating products are going to be shared by more people that will help apple to keep their products competitive in global market.

 

[Kevin.Richards]

Diversification in production may be a good choice. But it'd affect the quality of product which might affect the overall brand.

 

[macintoshmac]

Diversification in production may be a good choice. But it'd affect the quality of product which might affect the overall brand.

Genuine concern. But I have observed that companies that pay attention to quality like Apple does, they will be able to maintain top notch quality between production locations.

 

[konqueror4u]

Genuine concern. But I have observed that companies that pay attention to quality like Apple does, they will be able to maintain top notch quality between production locations.

Actually every organization has a standardized manufacturing process so it is not difficult to attain the top notch build quality. Diversification of design will be better than production because it will help companies to come up with more innovative products with better designs.India produces 1.5 million graduates per year in just science and technology so design center along the lines of Indonesia would be better to meet local requirement criteria in India.

 

[Kevin.Richards]

Genuine concern. But I have observed that companies that pay attention to quality like Apple does, they will be able to maintain top notch quality between production locations.

Maintaining the top notch quality increases the price and people would just buy a cheaper phones available locally manufactured in India. Very few people would be available to actually buy it.

Actually every organization has a standardized manufacturing process so it is not difficult to attain the top notch build quality. Diversification of design will be better than production because it will help companies to come up with more innovative products with better designs.India produces 1.5 million graduates per year in just science and technology so design center along the lines of Indonesia would be better to meet local requirement criteria in India.

I don't think design center would do, if it did Apple would have considered it by now. May be because of high costs? I think it'd certainly be a challenge when it comes to production locally.

 

[Gabrielanicolao]

In my opinion India's economy is not stable so as an average person cannot afford costly phones and on top of that they have wide market of local phones available at cheap prices. So, Apple has to consider this factor, one success in some country doesn't mean the other countries would follow.

 

[konqueror4u]

Maintaining the top notch quality increases the price and people would just buy a cheaper phones available locally manufactured in India. Very few people would be available to actually buy it.



I don't think design center would do, if it did Apple would have considered it by now. May be because of high costs? I think it'd certainly be a challenge when it comes to production locally.

Apple already has their design and development center in India. Looks Apple is trying to expand in India.

https://techcrunch.com/2016/05/17/a...-design-and-development-accelerator-in-india/
[doublepost=1482819518][/doublepost]

In my opinion India's economy is not stable so as an average person cannot afford costly phones and on top of that they have wide market of local phones available at cheap prices. So, Apple has to consider this factor, one success in some country doesn't mean the other countries would follow.

Indian economy is the fastest growing major economy in the world and has bigger economy than UK.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/...-as-worlds-fastest-growing-major-economy.html

http://foreignpolicy.com/2016/12/20/india-overtakes-britain-as-the-worlds-sixth-largest-economy/

 

[Kevin.Richards]

Apple already has their design and development center in India. Looks Apple is trying to expand in India.

I see. If they limit their design and development limited to apps only then it'd be a clever move to enter the mobile market in India.

 

[konqueror4u]

I see. If they limit their design and development limited to apps only then it'd be a clever move to enter the mobile market in India.

I don't think it will just stop with apps. Growing operating costs are always a matter of concern for big organizations they will always find ways to keep the costs down. Apple is already struggling to come up exciting products so the only way they can grow is by expanding their market share across the globe and reduce the operating costs. US market is saturated for big companies they cannot expect dramatic growth in US. India is the fastest growing market for apple right now and a $650 iPhone costs $1000 in India if apple can offer iPhone for $650 apple can easily maintain their growth rate in India. Companies cannot be competitive globally with ever increasing operating costs ao they have to cut operating costs to remain competitive in the market.

http://www.imore.com/iphone-sales-india-51-yoy

 

[szw-mapple fan]

Still India is worlds largest democracy which is better than communist China.

The existence of democracy is neither beneficial nor detrimental to the success of an economy. Many well governed "non-democratic" countries have a very robust economy, just as many democracies are swimming in poverty. China has lifted 800 million people out of poverty and regularly enjoys more than 80% approval rating in government. Although China does only have one governing party, officials are actually elected at lower municipal levels and those officials elect city officials and so on. And if you think China is economically communist, you must have been living under a rock for the past two decades. It's so capitalist that in many places the divide between the rich and poor is mind blowing. Now I'm not disregarding the thousands of serious social and economic problems plaguing China, but saying India is better just because it's a democracy is too simplistic an argument.
[doublepost=1482945766][/doublepost]

Indian economy is the fastest growing major economy in the world and has bigger economy than UK.

While I have no doubt India will absolutely overtake the U.K. in coming years, currently it's simply a side effect of the Brexit vote affecting the pound that directly contributed to the U.K. slipping behind.

 

[konqueror4u]

The existence of democracy is neither beneficial nor detrimental to the success of an economy. Many well governed "non-democratic" countries have a very robust economy, just as many democracies are swimming in poverty. China has lifted 800 million people out of poverty and regularly enjoys more than 80% approval rating in government. Although China does only have one governing party, officials are actually elected at lower municipal levels and those officials elect city officials and so on. And if you think China is economically communist, you must have been living under a rock for the past two decades. It's so capitalist that in many places the divide between the rich and poor is mind blowing. Now I'm not disregarding the thousands of serious social and economic problems plaguing China, but saying India is better just because it's a democracy is too simplistic an argument.
[doublepost=1482945766][/doublepost]
While I have no doubt India will absolutely overtake the U.K. in coming years, currently it's simply a side effect of the Brexit vote affecting the pound that directly contributed to the U.K. slipping behind.

Democracy is always better than communism period no contest. The problem with china is political anyway I don't want to discuss that here and this is not the right forum.

Brexit effect is going to last long and it was a very bad decision. Theresa May was able to just add 1300 jobs after her visit to India and majority of her negotiations hit road block once she negated on human capital. It is not possible to make trade deals negating the free movement of human capital and you cannot grow with out trade deals period.