Apple Reportedly Shifts Its iPhone SE Production To India Amid US-China Trade War

According to a new report, Apple will start manufacturing iPhone SE 2020 in India starting this summer.

Citing someone with insight into the matter, last week, The Information made public that one suppliers of Apple had been asked to ship components to a facility in the country starting July.

According to Daniel Martins, a financial researcher who follows Apple’s updates, manufacturing iPhone SE in India will benefit the tech giant in many ways.

The first advantage is to better infiltrate the Indian market, which Apple has failed to gain a solid standing for a few years. This decision proves Apple’s effort in this emerging market, all while reducing tariff impact by manufacturing the handsets locally.

Another benefit is to minimize the dependence on China. So far, more than half of Apple’s suppliers come from the East Asian country. Ever since the trade war between China and the US becomes more serious, Apple and some other tech firms are looking for alternatives, and one of their options is India.

With iPhone SE assembled in the country, the iPhone maker will be able to avoid the 20% import tax, thus facilitating a stronger foothold. As stated by FactSet, Apple gained only 2.2% of its revenue in India.

According to Ming-Chi Kuo, an analyst specialized in Apple and its products, iPhone SE saw an unexpectedly good sales this year. However, he also warned that the second quarter might see the overall sale to drop by 20% to 25%.

In April, Gene Munster of Loup Ventures forecasted that the latest iPhone model would make up for 20% of Apple’s total phone sales in the next 12 months, an equivalence of 30 million units.

Even Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, praised the new model in a shareholder call.

Cook said he had seen positive customer response to iPhone SE, which was by far the company’s most budget-friendly model.

The company’s shares have increased by 17% year to date.

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