MUMBAI: Apple Inc. will in the coming months start assembling its lower-priced iPhone SE models at a contract manufacturer鈥檚 plant in the southern Indian technology hub of Bengaluru, an industry source with direct knowledge of the matter said on Friday.
Apple鈥檚 Taiwanese manufacturing partner Wistron Corp. is setting up a plant in Bengaluru to focus solely on assembling iPhones, a separate source told Reuters earlier this month.
Apple鈥檚 move comes as it seeks to boost its share in the world鈥檚 fastest growing major mobile market, where handsets far cheaper than Apple鈥檚 iPhones dominate. It also comes as smartphone sales growth is slowing in Asia鈥檚 other massive market, China.
To lower prices, Apple has been seeking to set up local production and has been in talks with the Indian federal government regarding issues such as tax concessions.
The industry source told Reuters the initial manufacturing of the iPhone SE model was not contingent on those concessions.
Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Economic Times newspaper earlier on Friday reported Apple planned to initially assemble 300,000 to 400,000 iPhone SE handsets in India. The industry source told Reuters the numbers would be substantially lower to begin with.
The source also said it was too early to say what other phone models Apple would assemble at the Bengaluru plant.
Apple shipped 2.5 million iPhones to India last year, with a third coming in the December quarter, according to market researcher Counterpoint, which estimates that three-quarters of smartphones sold in India were made locally.
In the fourth quarter, Apple ranked 10th in India鈥檚 smartphone market but led the premium segment with a 62 percent market share, Counterpoint said.
Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. and a host of Chinese players including Xiaomi and Vivo dominate India鈥檚 smartphone market where the vast majority of phones sold are priced below Rs15,000 ($225).
In comparison, the entry-level iPhone SE model sells on Amazon.com鈥檚 India site for Rs28,433 ($424).