|
The
local assembly of PCBs by Wistron's India unit will be a first
for the contract manufacturer, which began making Apple's
low-priced SE model in the southern tech hub of Bengaluru in
2017. It currently assembles the 6S and 7 iPhone models there as
well.
A PCB is a bed for key components such as processors, memory and
wireless chip sets that are the heart of an electronic device.
Once assembled, or populated with components, PCBs account for
about half the cost of a smartphone.
Wistron's second iPhone plant, some 65 km (40 miles) from
Bengaluru, is expected to become operational by April, the
sources said, adding that it will make iPhone 7 and 8 models,
some of which will be exported.
The facility will be capable of producing up to 8 million
smartphones annually, they said.
The plan is part of Wistron's 30 billion rupee ($422.12 million)
investment proposal submitted to the Karnataka state government
in 2018.
Wistron's bigger rival Foxconn, which began making iPhone XR
models in India last year, already assembles PCBs for those
devices locally.
The deepening of PCB assembly in India will help Cupertino,
Calif.-based Apple save on import taxes on smartphone
components, levied by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government
to boost local manufacturing and create new jobs.
On Saturday, India said in its federal budget that it will from
April begin taxing imports of populated PCBs at a higher 20%,
from the previous rate of 10%.
Apple declined to comment. Wistron did not respond to a request
for comment.
Apple, which still makes most of its iPhones in China, has
gradually moved to expand production in other countries as
Washington and Beijing wage a disruptive battle over trade and
technology.
In India, a market with 1.1 billion wireless connections and
about 480 million smartphones, Apple's premium devices have
proven too costly for many consumers. The company's market share
by shipment volumes is just over 1%, though it was among the
fastest growing smartphone brands in India in the quarter to
Dec. 2019, according to market researcher Counterpoint.
India remains largely dependent on China for supplies of
smartphone parts such as cells, display panels, camera modules
and printed circuit boards.
The coronavirus outbreak in China could cause a delay in Wistron
and Apple's plans for India, one of the sources said.
The epidemic, which has killed more than 250 so far, threatens
to disrupt India's production of smartphones if it continues to
spread, Reuters reported previously.
(Editing by Jonathan Weber and Jacqueline Wong)
[© 2020 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2020 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
|
|
