Apple Inc. will make the most expensive iPhone Pro and Pro Max models in India for the first time this year, a milestone for the US company and the Asian country’s manufacturing sector.
Apple will export the bulk of the India-made Pro and Pro Max devices to Europe, the Middle East and the US as the demand for the pricier versions is relatively smaller in India, though the upcoming festive season could boost sales.
Key partner Foxconn Technology Group will begin assembling the new marquee devices within weeks of their global launch this fall, people familiar with the matter said. It’s begun training thousands of workers at its factory in southern Tamil Nadu state as it rushes to produce the iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max as close to the global debut as possible, they said, asking not to be named as the information is private.
The production of Apple’s entire iPhone range in India is a major landmark for the US tech giant’s local push that started gathering steam in 2021, helped by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s financial incentives to attract high-end manufacturing.
Apple still makes the vast majority of iPhones in China, but it’s gradually diversifying beyond the country to lessen risks related to tensions between Beijing and Washington.
The effort resulted in Apple assembling $14 billion of iPhones in India in the fiscal year through March 2024, accounting for as much as 14% of its global output. Like last year, Apple is expected to make the India-made standard iPhone 16 available on the same day the latest generation begins selling across the world, the people said.
Its other partners in the country — Pegatron Corp.’s India unit and the Tata Group — could also soon begin making the Pro versions, the people said. The higher-end models typically have bigger batteries, better cameras and titanium bodies, and they require more specialized production lines.
By the end of the year, iPhones made in India will satisfy the local demand, the people said. Local assembly will likely help Apple cut prices of the Pro models by as much as 10% compared with imported devices, on which India levies import duties, one of the people said. Even so, expensive component imports and local taxes will keep the iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max prices in India higher than some overseas markets with little to no taxation.
