Apple CEO Tim Cook said on an earnings call in the first week of February that India is “the place to be.” And Priyank Kharge, the minister for Information Technology for the state of Karnataka, India, said that Cupertino-based Apple Inc., will at first, begin assembling iPhones in India by the end of April. “Apple’s iPhones will be made in Bangalore (the capital city of Karnataka) and all devices will be targeted at the domestic market,” added Kharge.
Wistron, Apple’s Taiwanese contract manufacturer, will use its existing facility in an industrial zone to the north of Bangalore to assemble the smartphones, and later, it will start manufacturing them.
The company sold a modest 2.5 million iPhones in the country in 2016. While that was its best year ever in terms of revenues and sales, it only ranked 10th among vendors in the December quarter according to Counterpoint Research, says Bloomberg. Apple accounts for less than 2 percent of shipments in India, where an estimated 750 million smartphones will be sold by 2020. “In the longer term, it’s a great move,” Cook added on the post-earnings call. “We are in discussions on a number of things, including retail stores, and fully intend to invest significantly in the country.”
Last updated: December 26th, 2025
