Apple has asked the Indian government to extend tax breaks to its suppliers if India to start making phones in India instead of simply assembling them. Government officials told Reuters that meeting this request would mean India would have to formulate a new policy that applies fairly to all device makers.
The iPhone maker has been in talks with Indian officials since last year when CEO Tim Cook and Prime Minister Narendra Modi agreed to set up a production base in the country that goes beyond just assembling the devices. “They want the same treatment to be given to the component manufacturers; the tax concessions, they want everything. But then some kind of policy will have to be evolved,” the official said.
Apple started assembling iPhone SE in India by teaming with manufacturing partners Wistron but the parts are still imported. Earlier in March, Karnataka IT Minister Priyank Kharge confirmed that Apple will start making iPhones in the country from April. It was stated that the company will assemble 3 to 4 lakh iPhone SE handsets India at a plant that will be set up by Wistron in Bengaluru. Apple has already made it clear that India is an important market. It has been striving to increase its market share which is still dominated by Samsung and Chinese smartphones.
Apple reported quarterly revenue of $45.4 billion with a net profit of $8.7 billion in their earnings for the financial year Q3 2017 that ended July 1, 2017