The iPhone 8 Will Be Cheaper If Made In India Initiative Pulls Through

Apple iPhone 8 units could get cheaper, thanks to the planned Apple manufacturing unit in India—if it gets through the Indian government.

It’s been a while since Apple started to convince the Indian government to push through with the planned Apple factory in Bengaluru. Deccan Chronicle reported that if the planned Apple factory gets built in Bengaluru, it could pave the way for cheaper “made in India” iPhone 8 devices.

If you’ve ever wondered where your Apple iPhone was made, then you’ll only be slightly right if you say every iPhone is made in China. Mac World notes that every component, every element of the iPhone is made and sourced from a different country, as does manufacturing and assembly.

The United States, South Korea, China, Taiwan, Japan, Netherlands, and Italy are only some of the countries where the parts of the iPhone are made and sourced; while assembly can happen in China, Thailand, Malaysia, the Czech Republic, South Korea, Singapore, and the Philippines.

This goes to say that since a bulk of the manufacturing process comes from and happens in China, the iPhones are then labelled with a “Made in China.”

But did you know that according to research firm IHS, it only costs Apple $236 to manufacture one 16 GB iPhone 6s Plus unit? Upgrading the memory to 64 GB will cost you $100 more in retail but in reality, it only costs them an extra $17. With iPhone units selling at more than $800, that makes for a manufacturing price that’s tripled in price! What a rip-off! And to make matters worse, in most cases, iPhone units are even more expensive than they already are in countries outside U.S. thanks to tax and shipping costs.

Will Apple’s move to establish an iPhone factory in India, then, offset the price of the iPhone? For Indian patrons, surely, it will be a better iPhone landscape. But despite the promising effects that an iPhone factory gets set up in India poses for the market, the Indian government continues to hold the company at their shores.

According to reports, Apple is poised to start manufacturing as early as April this year, but the final details have yet been ironed out by Apple and the Indian government. Apple Insider reported that despite aggressive efforts of the international mogul, the Indian government refuses to give Apple tax benefits and incentives, which Apple hopes will pave the way for cheaper iPhone units.

According to Trade Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, they are not granting special tax incentives to Apple on the grounds that: one, India is already offering substantial subsidies for electronics manufacturers in their country; and two, no other smartphone company operating on Indian shores is receiving some other kind of tax benefit as Apple demands. In fact, if the Indian government would yield to Apple’s requests, although they will be able to produce cheaper iPhone units, it would push the government to extend the same courtesy to other companies, or it would look unfair.

As of the moment, Apple has manufacturer Wistron already building in India and another Apple manufacturing partner Foxconn has already facilities in the country. No Apple iPhone units are being manufactured in India to date, but Apple hopes that this changes in 2017.

Last year, without Apple manufacturing plants in India, nor corporate-owned retail stores, the iPhone already seized 66 percent of India’s premium phone sales in October. All iPhone units are being sold via authorized Apple resellers so far. Imagine if Apple starts to set up camp in India: that could terribly bring down the price of the upcoming iPhone 8, and even bring down the price and make accessible to the market other iPhone services and repairs.

Indian.com hopes that an Indian manufacturing factory will finally be able to put a competitive price tag on the iPhone 8, as well as a simultaneous release date with that of the US.

We still have time before the new iPhone 8 lands this 2017. Will we finally see a “Made in India” iPhone 8 debut this year?

[Featured image by View Apart / Shutterstock.com]