Apple Inc has now started manufacturing the iPhone 13 locally in India at its contract manufacturing partner Foxconn's plant near Chennai, the company announced on Monday.
"We are excited to begin making iPhone 13 — with its beautiful design, advanced camera systems for stunning photos and videos, and the incredible performance of the A15 Bionic chip right here in India for our local customers," Apple said in the statement.
The announcement comes after earlier reports already confirmed Cupertino had started trial production of the iPhone 13 in India back in December.
It's worth noting that the tech giant launched manufacturing operations in India in 2017 with the iPhone SE, and currently produces iPhone 11, iPhone 12, and now the iPhone 13 locally. However, none of the Pro models have been manufactured in India yet.
The company is expected to produce 70% of the phones it sells in India locally.
One of the key incentives for smartphone manufacturers to assemble their devices in India, the world's second biggest smartphone market, is to save up on import duties which include a 20% import tax. Apple is expected to shift 20% of its iPhone production from China to India in the near future.
