In a major boost to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Make In India’ initiative, the US-based tech giant Apple is reportedly planning to start New Product Introduction (NPI) of the standard iPhone 17 in India. This means that Apple is beginning the process of developing a new iPhone outside of China for the first time.
According to Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, introductory production on the standard iPhone 17 will start in India in the second half of 2025. The company will opt to assemble the standard iPhone 17 in India because it has a ‘lower difficulty; design that will minimize risk.
The Cupertino-based tech giant has been developing older iPhones and other devices in India since for several years now in an effort to move more of its manufacturing out of China.
Apple has slowly started giving factories in India more responsibility, and began iPhone 14 production in the country just a few weeks after the device launched in September 2022. iPhone 15 production started even earlier, with factories in the country assembling the base iPhone 15 model prior to launch, but assembly still started in China first
Ming-Chi Kuo also revealed that 12 to 14 per cent of global iPhone shipments originate from India, and this share is anticipated to rise to 20 to 25 per cent by 2024.
This not only allows Apple to diversify its manufacturing beyond China but also fosters stronger ties with the Indian government, given India’s significance as a growing market for Apple products.
In related news, Tata Group will start making Apple iPhones in India to be exported to global markets across the world within a span of two and a half years.
Rajeev Chandrasekhar, India’s Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology, lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s PLI scheme and said, “within just two and a half years, Tata Companies will now start making iPhones from India for domestic and global markets.”
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