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Apple will start assembling its premium iPhone models in India

24 points by cribbles 8y ago

writepub 8y ago
Pricing plays a pivotal role in purchasing decisions in India. Additionally paid apps aren't a huge driver. That shifts more focus to hardware specs and features the local market cares about (dual-sim, uSD card slot, FM Radio). iPhone XR - Apple's cheapest offering - clocks in at a cool $750. For that dough, there's no dual-sim, uSD or FM Radio - things valued in India. Compare that to something like a Xiaomi Mix 3 starting at $550. It's packed full of hardware features [3] and sports the latest Android, with an impressive DXO mark rating for the camera [1], that is higher than the iPhone Xr [2]!! Even if Apple's brand mileage gains it a few new followers, I'd call it an extremely uphill battle for them to be relevant in India at the Price:Features game they're playing. [1]: https://www.dxomark.com/xiaomi-mi-mix-3-camera-review/ https://www.dxomark.com/xiaomi-mi-mix-3-camera-review/ [2]: https://www.dxomark.com/apple-iphone-xr-camera-review/ https://www.dxomark.com/apple-iphone-xr-camera-review/ [3]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykib2NjKtA0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykib2NjKtA0
ohiovr 8y ago
While maybe not admitting so this is an excellent hedge against the Apple doomsday scenario: trade war goes full vindictive. China already sees that it has with ZTE and Huawei. If China threw Apple out of China just to spite us a trillion dollars of equity could vanish. Smart move I think.
- Despegar 8y ago
  The CPC will never do anything to materially harm Apple because their only real concern is their continued rule of China. Assembly of Apple products employs hundreds of thousands of workers and having that many people unemployed and angry is a threat to their regime. Not to mention the immediate capital flight that would occur, irreparably damaging FDI in China. This political juice Apple has is the same reason why iMessage and FaceTime aren't blocked in China, despite being end-to-end encrypted. Apple is assembling in India for the same reason they assemble in Brazil, to satisfy protectionist policies.
  - ohiovr 8y ago
    An iPhone not bought is a Huawei phone that is. As for iMessage and all that Apple has an agreement to host special China iCloud services. Without American soybeans China just mandates less protein in feed. As if biological machinery doesn’t care about politics. And of course there will be capital flight, no question. Can’t do business with a country you are in territorial squabbles with or an all out war. IBM not withstanding of course..
    - Despegar 8y ago
      >An iPhone not bought is a Huawei phone that is People outside of China aren't going to buy Huawei phones, partly because Huawei is being banned from western nations as we speak. Android phones are not really substitutes for iPhones, customers demand iPhones specifically so that doesn't really make sense. >As for iMessage and all that Apple has an agreement to host special China iCloud services. China mandates data localization for Chinese user data, that doesn't change anything about iMessage and FaceTime's end-to-end encryption. >Without American soybeans China just mandates less protein in feed. As if biological machinery doesn’t care about politics. When China stops buying soybeans from the US, it hurts American farmers. They are substituting them with soybeans from Brazil. But harming Apple isn't just harming American interests, it also harms their own. That's why Apple is pretty safe from any retaliation.
      - ohiovr 8y ago
        Divorce gets real vindictive real fast
walrus01 8y ago
This is the same idea as Hondas assembled in Pakistan from knock down kits to avoid a import tariff. I doubt any of the parts will actually be made in India, they'll be importing the pieces and hiring workers to do the manual assembly. https://www.pakwheels.com/blog/cbu-skd-ckd-vehicles/ https://www.pakwheels.com/blog/cbu-skd-ckd-vehicles/
- selimthegrim 8y ago
  Are people just not buying the cars smuggled through the tribal areas from Dubai anymore? Has Honda stopped dumping old models on the Pak market?

24 points by cribbles 8y ago

Pricing plays a pivotal role in purchasing decisions in India. Additionally paid apps aren't a huge driver. That shifts more focus to hardware specs and features the local market cares about (dual-sim, uSD card slot, FM Radio). iPhone XR - Apple's cheapest offering - clocks in at a cool $750. For that dough, there's no dual-sim, uSD or FM Radio - things valued in India. Compare that to something like a Xiaomi Mix 3 starting at $550. It's packed full of hardware features [3] and sports the latest Android, with an impressive DXO mark rating for the camera [1], that is higher than the iPhone Xr [2]!! Even if Apple's brand mileage gains it a few new followers, I'd call it an extremely uphill battle for them to be relevant in India at the Price:Features game they're playing. [1]: https://www.dxomark.com/xiaomi-mi-mix-3-camera-review/ https://www.dxomark.com/xiaomi-mi-mix-3-camera-review/ [2]: https://www.dxomark.com/apple-iphone-xr-camera-review/ https://www.dxomark.com/apple-iphone-xr-camera-review/ [3]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykib2NjKtA0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykib2NjKtA0

ohiovr 8y ago

While maybe not admitting so this is an excellent hedge against the Apple doomsday scenario: trade war goes full vindictive. China already sees that it has with ZTE and Huawei. If China threw Apple out of China just to spite us a trillion dollars of equity could vanish. Smart move I think.

Despegar 8y ago
The CPC will never do anything to materially harm Apple because their only real concern is their continued rule of China. Assembly of Apple products employs hundreds of thousands of workers and having that many people unemployed and angry is a threat to their regime. Not to mention the immediate capital flight that would occur, irreparably damaging FDI in China. This political juice Apple has is the same reason why iMessage and FaceTime aren't blocked in China, despite being end-to-end encrypted. Apple is assembling in India for the same reason they assemble in Brazil, to satisfy protectionist policies.
- ohiovr 8y ago
  An iPhone not bought is a Huawei phone that is. As for iMessage and all that Apple has an agreement to host special China iCloud services. Without American soybeans China just mandates less protein in feed. As if biological machinery doesn’t care about politics. And of course there will be capital flight, no question. Can’t do business with a country you are in territorial squabbles with or an all out war. IBM not withstanding of course..
  - Despegar 8y ago
    >An iPhone not bought is a Huawei phone that is People outside of China aren't going to buy Huawei phones, partly because Huawei is being banned from western nations as we speak. Android phones are not really substitutes for iPhones, customers demand iPhones specifically so that doesn't really make sense. >As for iMessage and all that Apple has an agreement to host special China iCloud services. China mandates data localization for Chinese user data, that doesn't change anything about iMessage and FaceTime's end-to-end encryption. >Without American soybeans China just mandates less protein in feed. As if biological machinery doesn’t care about politics. When China stops buying soybeans from the US, it hurts American farmers. They are substituting them with soybeans from Brazil. But harming Apple isn't just harming American interests, it also harms their own. That's why Apple is pretty safe from any retaliation.
    - ohiovr 8y ago
      Divorce gets real vindictive real fast

walrus01 8y ago

This is the same idea as Hondas assembled in Pakistan from knock down kits to avoid a import tariff. I doubt any of the parts will actually be made in India, they'll be importing the pieces and hiring workers to do the manual assembly. https://www.pakwheels.com/blog/cbu-skd-ckd-vehicles/ https://www.pakwheels.com/blog/cbu-skd-ckd-vehicles/

selimthegrim 8y ago
Are people just not buying the cars smuggled through the tribal areas from Dubai anymore? Has Honda stopped dumping old models on the Pak market?