Apple's first iPhone 'Assembled in India' will hit the market, but don't expect a price cut

 Apple has been on the move with iPhone production in India, but the Cupertino company has finally managed to put some "Indian" iPhones on the shelf for buyers.

Apple has been on the move with iPhone production in India, but the Cupertino company has finally managed to put some "Indian" iPhones on the shelf for buyers. However, these devices are still sold at the same prices. There is no evidence that this will be the case when the device is produced on a larger scale.

The Apple iPhone SE is a dedicated phone that is manufactured in India. Since the devices assembled here in India are limited in number, this is most likely not enough to change the total cost of the device. Currently, the device is priced at Rs 27,000 instead of the speculated price of Rs 20,000 for the phones made under the 'Make in India' campaign.

The boxes of these iPhone SEs are labeled “Designed in California. Assembled on the India label. According to an IBT report, the first batch of the 'Assembled in India' device has been spotted in Bengaluru.

In a report last month, the company specifically mentioned the launch timeframe. "We are starting initial production of a small number of iPhone SE in Bengaluru. iPhone SE is the most popular and powerful phone with a four-inch display in the world, and we will start shipping to domestic customers this month," Apple told IANS. in email. In 2016, Apple products were the most expensive in India. There are several reasons why this is so. Firstly, the US company has to pay high duty while importing their products and secondly, they have to rely on a strong network of retailers in India, which ultimately reduces their profit margin in these country.

To maintain this margin and maintain a buffer between the weakening rupee and their desired profit, the company prices higher than other countries. Prices are expected to come down once production starts in India.

The introduction of GST will also be a determining factor in the new prices. Once the tax reform is implemented, the Indian government says the current taxes on smartphones, averaging around 13.5 percent, will be reduced to 12 percent, reducing the overall price of smartphones.

Indian authorities have offered Apple tax breaks with a requirement that at least 30 percent of the components used in the production of these iPhones be locally sourced.

The company is targeting India after sales in the greater China region, once a major factor in Apple's rise, fell 14 percent year-on-year to $10.7 billion in the latest quarter.

No matter how big a company is, ignoring the Indian market can be a damaging move for any international smartphone brand and Apple doesn't want to be left behind in the second largest smartphone market. The company will certainly face an onslaught of Chinese smartphones as competition, but the revised prices could give its sales the required boost.