Apple Plans to Start Making iPhone 12 in India Next Year: Report

Apple is planning to start making the iPhone 12 locally in India, according to a report. The new manufacturing plan will reportedly be kicked off by Apple partner Wistron sometime in the middle of next year. The Cupertino giant is already assembling several of its existing iPhone models in the country. These include the iPhone 11 and iPhone XR as well as dated models such as the iPhone 6s and iPhone 7. Wistron started assembling iPhone models in the country back in May 2017.

The iPhone 12, which is yet to be formally announced by Apple, will be the seventh iPhone model to be made in India, reports Business Standard. The newspaper, citing people familiar with the development, said that the manufacturing would take place at Wistron's Karnataka facility.

Apple has so far localised production of five iPhone models in the country, with the iPhone 11 being the latest model that got make-in-India treatment in July. Wistron is also reportedly in plans to begin manufacturing the iPhone SE (2020) in the country sometime by the end of this year.

The report by Business Standard also says that Wistron has plans to hire some 10,000 workers at a new facility in a phased manner to expand the local manufacturing process. The facility, however, at present has a headcount of around 1,000 workers. Moreover, the contract manufacturer is said to have a planned investment of over Rs. 2,900 crores to bolster its operations.

According to a separate report by The New Indian Express, the new facility by Wistron is located in Narasapura of Kolar district that is in Karnataka and about 70 kilometres from Bengaluru. This is the second facility by the contract manufacturer in Karnataka after the first facility at Peenya in Bengaluru where it already produces the earlier iPhone models.

Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad earlier this month revealed that Apple's contract manufacturers Foxconn, Wistron, and Pegatron had applied for a $6.64 billion (roughly Rs. 49,768 crores) scheme under the government's production-linked incentive (PLI) plan to embrace and expand local manufacturing in the country. Foxconn and Wistron are both already producing iPhone models locally, though Pegatron has yet to launch its local manufacturing in the country. However, the latter is also actively in talks with authorities to soon begin its operations in the country.

Apple is believed to unveil the iPhone 12 series — alongside its new Apple Watch and iPad models — sometime in October. The company confirmed the delay of its launch late last month.

Is iPhone SE the ultimate 'affordable' iPhone for India? We discussed this on Orbital, our weekly technology podcast, which you can subscribe to via Apple Podcasts or RSS, download the episode, or just hit the play button below.