iPhone 15 in India: Apple's flagship offering is being manufactured locally and Make in India is gathering steam

The Cupertino, California-based tech giant Apple is intensifying its production activities outside China. In a major shift, Apple’s hardware manufacturing partner Foxconn is all set to roll out the latest iPhone 15 from its Tamil Nadu plant, soon after the phone’s launch on September 12.

Not only is this move expected to give a fillip to India’s desire of becoming a key player in Apple’s global manufacturing network, but will also burnish the credentials of the government’s Make in India programme. Incidentally, until now, the assembly of the latest iPhone would only start in India a few months after its global launch, but with this development, India’s share in total iPhone production is likely to go up from the 7 per cent it manufactured in the country till March 2023.

While Apple has been making iPhones in India since 2017 (it started with the iPhone SE), the latest to join the line was the iPhone 14, whose assembly here started just a month after launch. This year, Apple is closing the gap with China by starting production of iPhone 15 in India before its global debut. Now, the first few iPhone 15s on the shelves could likely be ‘Made in India’ units.

The assembly of the latest iPhone also shows India’s progress in handling high-end tech components. Danish Faruqui, CEO of semiconductor ecosystem consultancy firm Fab Economics, says, “Even if only the base model of iPhone 15 is assembled in India, then the A16 bionic chip will include the 4 nm (nanometer), or N4P node. This is still the cutting-edge in the smartphone segment.”

Having learnt from the shortages Apple faced in shipping iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max from its contract manufacturing plant in China due to lockdowns imposed in the country in 2022, this time around, industry experts are hopeful that Apple may assemble the iPhone 15 Pro models in India. “Apple had everything lined up for its new models, but due to issues at the assembly site in China, millions of iPhones were not supplied in Q4FY22 (October-December). This resulted in over a $1-billion loss for the company,” explains Faruqui.

He adds that even the assembly of iPhone 15 models in India before its launch is a ‘breaking the glass ceiling’ moment, and reflects the confidence Tier I tech OEMs like Apple are reposing in India’s manufacturing capabilities. Further, if Apple starts assembling iPhone 15 Pro models in India, it will also involve handling the entire product value chain of high-end processors (3 nm) and the latest display technology. However, sources close to Apple tell BT that the company has no immediate plans to assemble those models in India yet.

@nidhisingal