iPhone 14 to be manufactured in India; Will it affect price of Apple's latest smartphone?

Apple has confirmed that it will be assembling the newly launched iPhone14 in India. Apple said that it is “excited to be manufacturing iPhone 14 in India.” As per reports, Apple wants to move 25 per cent of its entire iPhone production line to India by 2025.

Apple has acknowledged that the recently released iPhone 14 is being produced in India. Apple expressed its "excitement to be manufacturing iPhone 14 in India". With the release of the iPhone SE in May 2017, Apple began producing iPhones in India at the Bengaluru site of its contract manufacturer Wistron. In Tamil Nadu's Sriperumbudur, Foxconn's facility produces the new Made-in-India iPhone 14.

Apple began producing the 2015-released iPhone 6S after the iPhone SE. The iPhone 11, 12, and 13 came next. Apple has not yet produced any of its premium iPhones, such as the Pro or Pro Max series, in India. Additionally, only local sales in India are permitted for the iPhones produced there.

Due to taxes and tariffs, the price of the iPhone 14 in India is among the highest in comparison to the rest of the globe. So, after Apple begins manufacturing the iPhone 14 in India, will the price drop?

Aside from the "Made-In-India" label on the boxes of iPhones supplied in India, pricing for the iPhone 13, iPhone 12, and other earlier iPhones have never decreased, according to previous patterns. Actually, due to time-limited bank discounts and cashbacks, it is only during the holiday sales that iPhones become more affordable. The prices was not decreased by local manufacturing.

According to media reports, Apple is shifting some manufacture out of China because to the country's rigorous COVID-19 lockdowns and escalating geopolitical unrest. The world's second-largest smartphone market after China, India, may receive around 5% of Apple's iPhone 14 manufacturing starting in late 2022, according to J.P. Morgan analysts.

By manufacturing the iPhone 14 in India, Apple will be able to save 20 per cent on import duty, which may impact the price of the model later, but there may not be any immediate changes in the pricing.

Another reason why local manufacturing may not impact iPhone 14's price in India is -- the iPhone will only be assembled in the country and there is barely any local sourcing of components. As a result, the cost of production doesn’t really drop, even in the case of local manufacturing.