14 DAY TRIAL // Apple has asked the Indian government to provide financial incentives that would allow the company to manufacture products such as the iPhone in the country, a new report reveals.
Apple has been looking into ways to expand its operations in India for more than a year, but due to local laws that require foreign companies to manufacture products in domestic plants, Cupertino’s efforts came to no conclusion.
The Wall Street Journal is now reporting that Apple officials are discussing with the Indian government plans to begin production in the country, after the company originally sent a letter to detail these efforts last month.
Citing two government sources, the WSJ writes that Senior Trade Ministry authorities have already met in the last few weeks to discuss Apple’s plans for Indian production facilities, but a decision is yet to be announced.
“Apple wants to emulate its China model in India. The company wants financial incentives, which the concerned government departments are looking into,” officials who wanted to remain anonymous were quoted as saying.
Slow iPhone sales in one of the largest markets
India is indeed close to becoming the world’s second-largest mobile market after China, with analysts expecting the country to overtake the United States as soon as next year. Apple obviously wants to benefit from this boom and is struggling to open stores in the country that would guarantee bigger sales. At this point, iPhone sales account for less than 5 percent of the total smartphone sales in India.
While Apple’s CEO Tim Cook previously said that the company wasn’t planning to open a production plant in India, government officials said the company already discussed such plans with Prime Minister Narendra Modi earlier this year.
Under India’s laws, companies selling products in the country need to use domestic production plants, and according to changes that were announced in June, to source at least 30 percent of their components from local manufacturers. Companies like Samsung are already building phones in India.
Apple plans to open two official stores in India should its plan go forward, but the company declined to provide any specifics. At the moment, iPhones are available in India through third-party retailers.