Indian production to start earlier than anticipated

Aug 7, 2022 10:41 GMT  ·  By

The geopolitical tensions involving the United States, China, and Taiwan lately have convinced Apple that it’s time to accelerate its efforts to reduce its dependence on Chinese factories.

As a result, the Cupertino-based tech giant is now planning to boost its production capabilities in India, where the company was already assembling the iPhone SE and the iPhone 13.

But according to well-known Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo from TF International Securities, the company now wants to start the production of the iPhone 14 in India earlier, almost on part with the beginning of the iPhone production in China.

Foxconn’s plant in India will be responsible for making the 6.1-inch iPhone 14, it seems.

“My latest survey indicates Foxconn's iPhone production site in India will ship the new 6.1" iPhone 14 almost simultaneously with China for the first time in 2H22 (India being one quarter or more behind in the past),” Kuo says.

“In the short term, India's iPhone capacities/shipments still have a considerable gap with China, but it's an important milestone for Apple in building a non-Chinese iPhone production site. It implies that Apple is trying to reduce the geopolitical impacts on supply and sees the Indian market as the next key growth driver,” he continued.

Apple will launch four different iPhone models this year, starting with the standard 6.1-inch iPhone 14 and the all-new larger version coming with a 6.7-inch display and likely to be referred to as iPhone 14 Max or iPhone 14 Max. The Pro models will use the same 6.1-inch and 6.7-inch displays, but on the other hand, it’s believed Apple will give up on the notch and go for a punch-hole screen.

The standard models will continue to use a notch, but this is likely just a temporary decision, with all devices to switch to punch-hole panels starting with the iPhone 15.