Assembly of iPhone 15 Plus to begin in India in Oct-Dec quarter

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After kicking off manufacture of iPhone 15 base models in its Tamil Nadu factory, Foxconn, the Taiwanese contract manufacturer for Apple, is set to begin assembling the premium iPhone 15 Plus in India from the next quarter, The Economic Times has stated.

Quoting a couple of industry executives in the know of the plans, the report stated that Foxconn’s plant near Chennai is preparing to produce this model, the price for which would far exceed Rs 1 lakh.

“iPhone 15 Plus will be the next in line for assembling in India. It will take shape in October-December and will be the fastest manufacturing rollout for a higher-priced model in India,” one of the executives told the newspaper.

However, till now the company has no plans to produce the top-of-the-line iPhone Pro series in India.

The California-based tech giant has launched four new models. These are iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus, iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max. The prices of these models range from Rs 79,900 and Rs 1,99,900.

The iPhone 15 series will be available in 41 countries in the first phase of sale. India is one of them. The models along with a watch were unveiled in the US on September 12.

Indian-made iPhone 15 will be in stores in India and other regions when the models go up for sale, which is a first for the country where Apple is aggressively setting up its manufacturing base as it seeks to diversify from its base in China.

The iPhone 15 series is empowered by a faster chip that offers better gaming experience. The company has said that the Pro handsets are equipped with a lighter titanium shell.

Apple is targeting to raise its sales in India by 100% in the next quarter (October-December) which also coincides with the festivitie season in the country. Apart from the new models, it is also slashing prices of the iPhone 13 and 14 models.

The volume of sales that the company is gunning for would necessitate handsets to be imported from China since the Indian manufacturing capacities are still low.

Apple already manufactures iPhone 14, 14 Plus and 13 models in India.

On the models Apple would be importing, it has factored in the 22% import duty applicable on smartphones along with the depreciation of the rupee to price the products in India. It means the price of the new iPhones in India is among the highest globally.

Analysts said Apple could end the calendar year with record shipments of iPhones powered by the new launches. Navkendar Singh, associate vice president of market researcher International Data Corporation (IDC), said the older models such as the iPhone 13 and 14 will constitute the bulk of the sales in India in the October-December quarter. “Next quarter can be a record quarter for Apple in India in terms of sales,” he said.

Tarun Pathak, research director at tracker Counterpoint Market Research, said the share of iPhone 15 to total iPhone sales in the country is expected to rise this year in the December quarter. “This will also push the iPhone average selling prices,” he said.

According to IDC data, Apple shipped 45 lakh iPhones to India by 2023 July, which is a 60% rise on a year-on-year basis. The total shipments in this year could be more than 90 lakh. In 2022 it was about 67 lakh.