Attention India! Your next flagship Apple iPhone could be heavily discounted

In what may come as exciting news for Apple fans in India, reports suggest that Apple will be building its flagship iPhones in the country at India’s local Foxconn unit. These handsets are set to be sold in India by August which will help Apple slash the prices of iPhones in the world’s second-largest smartphone market.

Reports say that there are some approvals pending but the iPhone XS and iPhone XR that’s under the ‘Make in India’ initiative are most likely set to hit shelves across the country by this August. The report by Reuters claims that unnamed sources familiar with Apple’s plans have shared this particular bit of news. Neither Apple nor Foxconn have publicly commented on this development.

By manufacturing the iPhones locally, Apple will save on the significantly higher taxes that are levied on them for their fully-assembled smartphones. This also helps Apple meet local sourcing norms required for opening its own Apple Stores in India.

Apple iPhones are coveted by a vast majority of Indians; however, it's premium pricing has put them off thereby reducing its market share to a paltry 1 per cent to the benefit of Android rivals namely OnePlus.

The report adds the local unit of Hon Hai Precision Industry Co, widely known as Foxconn, would this year begin assembling iPhone X family devices in India’s southern Tamil Nadu state.

Apple also manufactures lower-end iPhone models like the SE, 6S and iPhone 7 through Wistron Corp at Bengaluru.

Rushabh Doshi, a research director at tech consultancy Canalys says, “Local production will give Apple the leeway to play with the margins of their distributors and indirectly price their phones lower.”

Apart from fulfilling local demand, Apple could also India as an export hub to soften the impact of a bruising trade war between the United States and China.