Highlights:
- Apple iPhone 12 to be Made in India
- Apple’s supplier Wistron hires 10,000 local employees for production
- The local production of iPhone SE is also scheduled to begin by the end of 2020
Apple’s Taiwanese manufacturing partner, Wistron, has started the hiring process for the local production of iPhone 12 components in India. Apple’s flagship phone iPhone 12 will be Made in India and will be out by the middle of next year as per the report published by Business Standard.
Wistron has planned to invest more than Rs 2,900 crore in India to build up the infrastructure for the local production of Apple iPhone.
The setup for iPhone production is placed at the Narasapura plant which is situated in the Kolar District of Karnataka, about 70 kilometres away from Bengaluru city as per the New Indian Express.
The Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board (KIADB) had allocated a total of 43 acres to the Taiwanese manufacturer, Wistron when it announced it plans for production in India back in 2017. Going by the report, the manufacturer at Kolar will generate as many as 10,000 jobs and it has already employed around 2,000 locals.
People familiar with the development told a leading news agency in the country that the hiring by Wistron will take place in a phased manner. Currently, the walk-in interviews of diploma graduates are being conducted by the firm.
The people say that in the coming time more interviews with experienced people along will the freshers will be held. A report claimed, “Wistron has started trial production and by September it will start the commercial production of iPhones in Kolar.”
Having said this, it is still not clear which products will be assembled in this manufacturing plant. However, reports in the past stated that the manufacturing units of Wistron at its new plant in Southern region of India will assemble the Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs) for the iPhones.
PCB is a bed of vital components including the memory, processor, wireless chipsets which are the heart of any electronic device. Once assembled or populated with the components, PCBs can amount to almost half the cost of a smartphone, Reuters said.
The local manufacturing of the iPhones will save the company 22% on the import taxes and also create new job opportunities for the people in India. Apple iPhone 12 will be the 7th iPhone model which will be manufactured in India which will be a big win for the AatmaNirbhar Abhiyan started by the Government.
As of now Apple produces a number of iPhone models locally which includes the iPhone SE (first generation), iPhone 6S, iPhone 7, iPhone XR, and iPhone 11. The local production of iPhone SE (second generation) is also scheduled to begin by the end of 2020.
In July, Wistron’s rival company Foxconn also started manufacturing iPhone 11 at its Chennai plant. It was for the first time ever that Apple had manufactured its top-of-the-line, flagship phone model in India.
Once the production began of the iPhone 11 in India, Apple started looking at the local manufacturing of its iPhone 12 as well along with the assembly of iPhone SE (2nd generation) models.
It is being speculated that Apple iPhone 12 will be released sometime in October. Having said this, Apple, who still manufactures most of its iPhone in China, has also expanded its production in other cities including Washington, as per the report published by Reuters.
