Apple is expected to significantly increase its local manufacturing capacity by 2025, tripling the volume of iPhones built in India.

This information is based on statements by three individuals familiar with the matter, Mint reported.

Statements from Insiders

An unnamed top executive in the Cupertino-based tech firm claimed that their produce in India might climb by more than three times compared to what they want to produce this year.

According to a second anonymous manager, Apple asked its local manufacturers, Foxconn, Pegatron, and Wistron, to boost production. "They're adding assembly lines and manpower," the executive added.

A high-ranking government official, who wished not to be identified, confirmed that the company is now working on expanding its short and long-term manufacturing capacity in India. 

He said that the country is being looked at as a participant in the global value supply chain.

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What Experts Say

Mint reported that analysts watching the mobile device market and local manufacturing said the development might result in the domestic production of iPhones growing to 12-15 million within the next two years.

Faisal Kawoosa, the co-founder of research company TechArc, explained that Apple's domestic manufacturing has accounted for 72% to 7.7% of the company's overall revenue in India. Reports estimate 7.1 million iPhone sales in India by the year 2022. 

Therefore, over the next few years, as the size of local manufacturing expands, it might support the assembly of 15 million phones in India, Kawoosa said.

Kawoosa remarked that with new corporations joining the market, such as the Tata group, productivity would increase faster than in past years. 

Kawoosa noted that iPhone manufacturing started in India in 2017.

Phones built in India will become more readily available for both the domestic and international markets due to the growth, said the industry analysts.

"We should expect 12-15 million iPhones being produced in India over the next two years. However, to meet this number, the iPhone Pro range also needs to be assembled in India by 2023, along with exports, as the India market alone may not be able to absorb all that is made here," Navkendar Singh told Mint, the associate vice president at IDC India.

Operations in India

In India, Apple is projected to sell between 6.5 and 7 million iPhones in 2022, up from 4.8 million in 2021 and 2.7 million in 2020. This is based on statistics from the market research firm IDC. 

However, it still comprises a fraction of India's smartphone industry, where 43 million devices were supplied in the quarter that ended Sep. 30, a 10% fall from a year earlier.

TechArc's Kawoosa estimated India's iPhone user base might reach 25 million by 2025.

Analysts said Apple's intentions match its ambition of making India one of the primary global iPhone manufacturing centers as it diversifies its supply chain amid shifting geopolitical situations.

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