Apple India has Billion Dollar Plans for Retail Expansion

Mr. Cook started by dipping his toes in the Indian smartphone market with Made in India iPhones and now he’s ready to do a cannonball with a billion-dollar investment. The news shouldn’t come as a surprise because Apple has been looking for means to ramp up its investment in India.  But a billion-dollar investment! Well, that was a wee bit more than we predicted. 

According to a recent report by TOI, Apple has set aside $1 billion for expansion of local manufacturing of iPhones in India. “Apple will be investing $1 billion in India through its partners. They have said the production would be used for meeting the demand for its products across global markets,” said an Apple official

If you’re going to make any guesses about who this mysterious partner is, you might want to begin with Foxconn. Now don’t act all surprised, remember that Chennai facility? Foxconn will most likely put the machines at work to manufacture Apple products. 

And then there were more. Foxconn is the main man, yes, but it’s not the only one to make the ‘partner list.’ Rumor has it that Apple’s adding its other significant Taiwanese manufacturing partner, Wistron to the mix. 

The move is seen as Apple’s way to move beyond China and explore other countries with cheap labour to assemble iPhones. Well, it seems like Apple’s all set to expand its ‘Made in India’ iPhones lineup. And our government sure is ecstatic about our country becoming an export hub. “Apple has started manufacturing iPhones in India … making components and are exporting as well … Apple is on board as far as India’s success story is concerned,” said Ravi Shankar Prasad, the IT and electronics minister. He says that Apple’s investment is just the ‘tip of the iceberg.” Was anyone else reminded of The Titanic or was that just me? He also said that he wants Samsung and Apple to have a ‘robust presence’ in India.

After holding a CEOs roundtable with over 50 electronics and phone companies, Prasad said “India will offer you Human Resource, investor-friendly policies, and incentives for making in India, and for exports.” 

However, before you celebrate, here’s a bummer. The news arrives amidst the ongoing trade war between China and the US. And sadly, Apple is likely to be a victim of the war. And therefore, it’ll soon be forced to hike the prices of iPhones around the globe, unless Apple picks up the pace with its ‘Made in India’ manufacturing initiative. Well, we can only hope!