Apple is looking to shift manufacturing of the iPhone 6S Plus to India to lower its price. The iPhone maker recently set up a local factory in Bengaluru, and may start production within two weeks, according to The Economic Times.
The production shift comes in response to tariff hikes on smartphones by the Indian government from 15 to 20-percent. Manufacturing the iPhone 6S Plus in India can cut prices from 5 to 7-percent, but that’s only if all units are produced there.
The Economic Times puts the possible pricing of the iPhone 6S Plus on par with devices from OnePlus and Samsung. The 6S Plus model remains highly popular in India, and its cheaper price tag undercuts newer iPhones models like the iPhone 8 and iPhone X by a wide margin. The 6S Plus comes with a 5.5-inch Retina Display, A9 processor, Touch ID and 12MP camera. The specs are quite dated at this point, but in India pricing is much more appealing than the recentness of the device.
Apple is trying to keep the profit margins as high as possible, hence its contemplation to move production to India. Apple only accounts for 2-percent of India’s smartphone market, so keeping the price of the iPhone is quite important to increasing that number.
The iPhone 6S Plus will be the second model made in India, but it is not completely manufactured there. Some of its parts are still manufactured elsewhere and imported to India. Apple may look to move the manufacturing of more iPhone models to India very soon.
