“We have started manufacturing there which is very important to be able to serve the market in a reasonable way. And we’re growing that capability there,” said the Apple CEO. Giving an impetus to its India manufacturing plans, Apple has started the assembling of iPhone 7 at its supplier Wistron’s facility in Bengaluru. Taiwanese industrial major Wistron already assembles iPhone 6S in the country. Cook also emphasised on the company’s plans to open its branded stores in India. “We would like to place retail stores there. And we’re working with the government to seek approval to do that. And so, we plan on going in there with sort of all of our might,” said Cook. Apple is slowly but steadily strategising its plans to make deeper inroads in a country where over 450 million people use smartphones, mostly Android and from China. In India, price is a key factor when it comes to buying a smartphone. According to Tarun Pathak, Associate Director, Counterpoint Research, this is like a fresh start for Apple in India once it localises assembly operations. “It needs to target the growing price segment of $400 above. Timing-wise, things are fine, but Apple still need to work around its pricing strategy,” Pathak told IANS. Last one year has been tough for Apple in India, with its market share tumbling to less than 1% in the first quarter of 2019. Realising this, Apple has begun reducing the price of newly-launched iPhones in India. The company offered a “promotional offer” earlier this month to bring down the cost of its Rs 76,900 iPhone XR (64GB) by as much as Rs 23,000. Cook said that it doesn’t bother him that it’s primarily Android business at the moment in India “because that just means there’s a lot of opportunity there”.
