iPhone 13 now Made in India: Will Apple offer price cuts?

The iPhone 13 has started its trial production run in India after three months of its launch. Know which variants are made in India.

The iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 Mini will now be manufactured in India. ((HT Tech/Amritanshu Mukherjee))

iPhone 13 to now carry the “Made in India” tag! Based on a recent report, Apple has started the trial production run of the 3-months new iPhone 13 in India. This will add on the iPhone 11 and iPhone 12 that are also manufactured locally. With the addition of the iPhone 13 to its Indian manufacturing plans, Apple now makes 70 percent of its iPhone smartphones locally.

Reported by The Economic Times, it is said that Apple's contract manufacturer Foxconn has begun manufacturing the iPhone 13 at its Tamil Nadu plant near Chennai. This same plant also manufactures the iPhone 12 and iPhone 11. However, this is just a trial run and the full-on commercial production will begin from February 2022, suggest the industry insiders.

iPhone 13 now Made in India

Despite the ongoing chip shortage across the globe, it is said that Apple has managed to secure all the chip it needs to kickstart local manufacturing of the iPhone 13. However, not all models of the iPhone 13 series will get the Made in India tag.

It is the iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 Mini that will be made in India. The more capable and expensive iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max will still be imported from outside. For Apple, that makes sense given that the iPhone 13 is the top-selling model in the iPhone 13 series.

On the other hand, Apple still continues to manufacture the iPhone 11 and iPhone 12 in India, as these models contribute the most to Apple's sales figures on the subcontinent. The recent festive sale events have seen massive discounts on the iPhone 12 and iPhone 11, both of which have sold in huge numbers.

The iPhone SE is also manufactured by Wistron in the Bengaluru plant. Note that the iPhone SE is the cheapest iPhone model that Apple currently sells in India. Going in to 2022, it is believed that Apple will update the iPhone SE for the year by giving it a 5G chip from the iPhone 13. In 2023, Apple is expected to launch a completely new iPhone SE that is likely to be based on the iPhone XR.