Foxconn Looking to Produce High-End iPhone Models in India: Report

Foxconn is reportedly looking towards India as a possible base for assembling the high-end iPhone models, a report claimed Tuesday, citing people familiar with the development. The latest report comes less than a month after two separate reports had claimed the same, indicating that the Taiwanese contract manufacturer is indeed serious about expanding its Indian facilities. The company currently assembles smartphones for firms like Xiaomi in the country. With a trade war between China and United States not close to a proper resolution, more companies with manufacturing facilities in China and customers in the United States are looking to diversify their supply chains.

According to a report in The Wall Street Journal citing people familiar with the matter, Foxconn is mulling producing "higher-end, pricier" iPhone models in India, including models with OLED displays. The contract manufacturer is currently studying whether to include possible India expansion in its budget plans, noted the report citing an unnamed person familiar with Foxconn's plans. The company is also said to be considering Vietnam as it looks to diversify its manufacturing bases, but India has a better chance of seeing a Foxconn factory churning out new iPhone models thanks to its larger growth potential, the report added. A bigger local presence should also allow Apple to better target the market.

If Foxconn goes ahead with its plans to assemble high-end iPhone models in India, it is likely to help Apple in keeping the prices of its smartphones down in the country. Right now, the Indian government charges as much as 20 percent tariff on any phones imported from outside. After the increased tariffs over the last couple of years, several smartphone manufacturers have set up bases in the country to assemble phones. Expanded business in India will certainly help the Cupertino-based company is shedding the reliance over China for growth as the smartphone market has stagnated in most of the western countries.

Another Taiwanese contract manufacturer Wistron was recently reported to be considering expanding its India operations. In a filing on Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE), the company has noted that it has increased the authorised capital of its Indian subsidiary to Rs. 3,000 crores for the same. Apple has been assembling a couple of its low-end iPhone models in India for some time now. Wistron has plant in Peenya industrial area of Bengaluru city, where the contract manufacturer assembles the iPhone SE ₹ 17,199 and iPhone 6S ₹ 27,999 units for the country.

Late last month, a report from Indian daily The Hindu had claimed that a Foxconn unit in Sriperumbudur, a town panchayat in Chennai Metropolitan Area, will start manufacturing iPhone models from 2019. The daily had cited a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami over the matter. Apparently, Foxconn has already created a separate manufacturing unit in its existing Sriperumbudur factory.

A report from news agency Reuters reiterated the Hindu report, citing its own source. It added that Foxconn will invest Rs. 25 billion ($356 million) to expand the Sriperumbudur plant.

New Nokia smartphones confirmed for Q4 2016

Industry rumblings are pointing towards a bit of a Nokia revival in the not too distant future, with the the company’s marketing chief recently insisting that Nokia will “rise again”. Now, Nokia executive Mike Wang, president of the joint management team in China, has confirmed that 3 or perhaps 4 new Nokia-branded Android devices are set to be unveil in the fourth quarter of 2016. These devices will be split between new smartphone and tablet launches.

While the company expects to make an announcement or two before the end of 2016, the actual launch could be pushed back into early 2017, depending on testing and development. HMD, the Finnish company made up of ex-Nokia and ex-Microsoft employees that snagged the licensing rights to the brand earlier this year, will be the ones designing these new Nokia handsets, which will then be manufactured by Foxconn.

The company didn’t spill any details about the specifications of its upcoming smartphones and tablets, nor their targeted price points. However, a rumor that appeared earlier in the year suggests that Nokia is planning two premium phones, which will be powered by Android 7.0 Nougat. The Nokia smartphones are reported to feature 5.2 and 5.5-inch QHD OLED displays, a Snapdragon 820 processor, a 22.6MP camera, and a metal body with water and dust resistance.

Along with high-end smartphones, HMD is expected to unveil two new Nokia feature phones in the next 6 months. Nokia also completed a $191 million acquisition of Withings in May, opening up an avenue into the connected halth market. Clearly Nokia is working to get itself back into the smartphone game, but are you excited to see what the company has to offer after all this time?

Microsoft maunfacture smartphones in india

Microsoft in talks with foxconn to manufacture smartphones in India

Smartphone OEMs have realised that if they are going to have an edge over the rest in this highly competitive Indian market, they will have to resort to manufacturing devices here itself. A slew of manufactures have already announced their plans to manufacture smartphones in the country and many have already started working on the same.

Microsoft is the latest company which is in the process of evaluating manufacturing smartphones in the country. The tech giant is believed to be in talks with Foxconn, the Taiwanese manufacturer which produces smartphones for major OEMs globally. Microsoft will probably enter into a an agreement with Foxconn for contract manufacture of smartphones.

The Sri City facility in Andhra Pradesh will be the one that will be the one which will be used for manufacturing the smartphones. There will be two variants of Microsoft's smartphones that will be rolled out from the facility. The same facility is being used to manufacture Xiaomi and InFocus smartphones as well. There is no word on the output capacity of the facility but it is estimated to have a capacity of 10,000 units each day.

Microsoft gets majority of its sales in the budget smartphone arena and it would help the company price its devices better.