TL;DR
- Apple has started making the iPhone 16 Pro and the iPhone 16 Pro Max locally via its contract manufacturers in India.
- To increase its retail presence, Apple plans to open four more retail stores in the country.
The Cupertino-based tech giant Apple is expanding its operations in India. While the company has started manufacturing the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max in the country, it has also announced plans to open four new retail stores. The development comes right after the iPhone 16 (review) launch, which witnessed about 18 to 20% improvement in the opening sales compared to the iPhone 15 series.
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iPhone 16 Pro Series Is Now “Made in India”
For years, Apple has manufactured the iPhone’s baseline or mini/Plus models in the country. The Indian-made units have also been exported to other countries for sale. Now, the company has confirmed that it has started making the iPhone 16 Pro and the iPhone 16 Pro Max locally via its contract manufacturers in India. While the units will be available for customers in the country, Apple will also ship them overseas to sell in the global market.
The move increases India’s contribution to Apple’s efforts to reduce its reliance on China. In fact, Apple has made iPhones worth over $14 billion during FY24 (October 2023 to September 2024) in India, suggesting that every one in seven iPhones is now made in India. The local production also helped the company reduce the prices of the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max by Rs. 15,000. Locally manufactured Pro units will be available to purchase by this month.
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Apple To Open Four New Retail Stores In India
To increase its retail presence, Apple plans to open four more retail stores in the country. The company will add a second store in Delhi and Mumbai each and open a new store in Bengaluru and Pune. Even though the company hasn’t confirmed the timeline for these stores, we believe it will take at least a year to finalize the location within the cities and open its store. Nonetheless, the stores might be ready in time for the launch of the iPhone 17 series in 2025.
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