Apple likely to manufacture iPhone 14 in India from late October or November: Report

Apple has been manufacturing iPhones in India since 2017. first iPhone to be manufactured in country was iPhone SE. Currently, company has elaborate assembly lines for latest iPhones, including iPhone 11, iPhone 12 and iPhone 13. However, re has always been a time gap between global and Indian manufacturing schedules.

Apple plans to reduce production gap between India and China

Well, this year, Cupertino-based tech giant is looking to narrow gap between production of iPhones in India and China. According to a recent Bloomberg report, Apple and its suppliers could begin manufacturing upcoming iPhone 14 in India as soon as two months from international launch of device. Following September release, first iPhone 14s manufactured in India could be rey by “last October or November”, as per report.

In past, it took six to nine months for Apple to start manufacturing latest iPhone in India. However, with a decent response to iPhone 13’s production in country, Apple is looking at India as an alternative to its largest manufacturer in world, China, as “Xi Jinping’s ministration clashes with US government” are on rise.

A couple of days ago, Ming-Chi Kuo, an analyst at TF International Securities Group, said that Apple could ship iPhone 14 from India and China simultaneously. Still, Apple’s primary manufacturer, Foxconn Technology Group, figured that it would not be possible to start production in India this year simultaneously.

Challenges to overcome

re are a couple of challenges that India has to overcome. First, assembling latest iPhone before launch could be challenging due to tremendous demand in global market, especially “tight delines and quality controls.” Anor challenge that company is very particular about is maintaining secrecy. According to Bloomberg report, executives in India examined Foxconn’s assembly lines in country. y concluded that replicating security standards and seclusion that Apple has maintained in Chinese facilities would be very difficult.

It is essential to mention that China is not only largest manufacturer but also primary source of components used in manufacturing an iPhone. Even if Apple wants to manufacture latest iPhone in India on a large scale, it would still have to import most components from outside country. Bloomberg report was written by Sankalp Phartiyal and Saritha Rai, with assistance from Debby Wu and Mark Gurman.