Apple to cut iPhone production, start manufacturing in India

IDC has said in a report that India will emerge as the second biggest smartphone market after China, pushing the US to the third place.

Apple: iPhones still available for sale in China
The Apple Inc. logo is shown outside the company's 2016 Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco Reuters

Apple is slated to cut the production of iPhones by about 10 percent in the first quarter of the next year, according to reports. The production of the flagship device is likely to be trimmed up to 10 percent between January and March, Nikkei financial daily reported.

Apple had cut the production of iPhones by 30 percent during the same quarter this year owing to an inventory pile-up.

Meanwhile, reports from India said the smartphone giant will set up manufacturing plant in the country, where it hopes for a sales boost.

IDC has said in a report that India will emerge as the second biggest smartphone market after China, pushing the US to the third place. Apple would want to capitalise on the growth in scale and make inroads into the market dominated by the likes of Korean maker Samsung.

The Times of India reported that the new plant wil be set up in the southern tech hub of Bangalore. The new plant will be set up by Apple's Taiwanese manufacturing partner Wistron, the report said.

India's Financial Express reported earlier that Apple had sought clarifications on the incentives and taxation policies if it started manufacturing in India.

Currently most of Apple's devices are made in China by the Cupertino giant's manufacturing partner Foxconn Technology.

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