iPhone 13 Confirmed to Be Latest Smartphone Manufactured by Apple in India

iPhone 13 — Apple's latest smartphone generation announced last September — will now be manufactured in India, the company announced on Monday. The announcement comes months after trial production for the handset began at the company's manufacturing partner Foxconn in India last year. It will join the iPhone 11 and iPhone 12 that are currently manufactured in India. Last year, the company was one of the fastest growing smartphone brands in India, with a 108 percent year-on-year growth in shipments and a 44 percent share of the premium segment.

The Cupertino company confirmed to Gadgets 360 on Monday that it had started manufacturing its latest iPhone 13 model in India. The first iPhone model to be manufactured in India was the original iPhone SE — announced by the company in 2017. Manufacturing its recent iPhone models in India could help Apple cut costs in the country, but there is no word on whether this will translate into a price cut for the company's latest smartphone in India.

Apple has contracted Foxconn and Wistron, manufacturing partners that assemble the company's smartphones in India, whose plants are located in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, respectively. Citing people familiar with the matter, PTI reports that Apple has begun manufacturing the iPhone 13 at the Foxconn plant in Chennai.

Taiwan-based Pegatron is also expected to begin production of the iPhone 12 in India this month, according to reports. In 2020, the government had announced that it was approving incentives to 16 companies under a production-linked incentive (PLI) plan to boost domestic smartphone production — including Foxconn, Wistron, and Pegatron. At the time, it was reported that the three companies planned to invest a total of almost $900 million (roughly Rs. 6,800 crores) in India over the next five years.

Meanwhile, Apple says that many of its supplier sites in India now use solar and wind energy for operations, detailing efforts taken part of the company's Supplier Clean Energy 2021 Program, while 11 supplier sites in India have committed to using renewable energy. Apple also states that all established final assembly supplier sites in India do not generate any waste sent to landfills and are UL Zero Waste certified. Last year, Apple also removed the plastic outer wrapping on the iPhone 13, as part of efforts to cut down on 600 metric tons of plastic.

Last year, it was reported that Apple was one of the fastest growing brands in India in 2021. The company clocked a 108 percent year-on-year growth in shipments, while maintaining its lead in the premium smartphone segment with a 44 percent share, according to statistics from market research and consulting firm Counterpoint. Meanwhile, Apple says that it will continue its efforts to launch its Apple Store in India, following the arrival of its online store in 2020.