India

Apple to soon start production of iPhone 6s in India

Will Apple lower the price now?

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Reports are emerging that Apple’s manufacturing contractor in India, Wistron, has started production of the iPhone 6s at their Bengaluru facility and the units will reach stores pretty soon. Apple has been assembling the iPhone SE in India since last year and it was speculated that the iPhone 6s will be next in line.

The device is being commercially manufactured, essentially meaning that if you go and buy an iPhone 6s, there are high chances that it will have the “Assembled in India” badge on it. Apple is closely working with its Taiwanese partner and the two are planning to ramp up the facilities in Bengaluru. This basically means another iPhone model could soon start rolling out of the facility.

It is highly unlikely prices of the phone will be officially lowered in the coming weeks, since the device is being assembled in limited quantities. Until Apple manages to match the local production with that of the demand within the country, there will be no respite for the buyer.

A few months back, it was confirmed that Wistron had been granted 43 acres of land near Bengaluru to expand its production facility. Apple has been trying to set up local facilities for years now, but always found itself cornered due to unfavorable government policies.

In fact, Apple wants to have a direct selling channel in India; this way it can manage its own showrooms and won’t have to rely on distributors and resellers. But it has been unable to establish one because the country doesn’t allow FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) in retail and Apple does not have enough local production.

The Indian Government hiked customs duty on imported mobile phones from 15 to 20 percent this year in a bid to encourage local sourcing. Companies like Samsung, Vivo, OPPO, Xiaomi, and BlackBerry are already assembling in India. Fortuntaely for Apple, the government has been more cooperative recently thanks to the “Make in India” initiative.

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India

Samsung Galaxy M31s launches with quad-cameras and 6000mAh battery

Will this be another hot-seller?

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July 30, 2020

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After six months, Samsung has announced a new successor of the Galaxy M31, dubbed Galaxy M31s. The midrange phone has gained considerable traction in India’s offline space and demand for affordable phones is on the rise. The phone shall be going up against the Redmi Note 9 Pro Max and Realme 6 Pro.

It sports a 6.5-inch Full HD+ AMOLED display with a punch-hole cut-out that Samsung likes to call Infinity-O. Protecting the display is Gorilla Glass 3. Under the hood, the phone houses an octa-core Exynos 9611 SoC with up to 8GB RAM and 128GB internal storage.

On the rear is a quad-camera setup consisting of a 64-megapixel primary sensor, a 12-megapixel wide-angle lens, a 5-megapixel macro shooter, and a 5-megapixel depth sensor. For selfies, a 32-megapixel camera is located on the front. The phone can further support 4K video recording, slow-mo videos, AR Doodle, and AR Emoji.

Backing these internals is a massive 6000mAh battery that supports 25W fast charging. The phone has expandable storage via microSD card, a fingerprint scanner on the side and One UI installed out-of-the-box.

The Samsung Galaxy M31s costs INR 19,499 for the 6GB+128GB option and INR 21,499 for the 8GB+128GB variant. It will be available in Mirage Black and Mirage Blue color options from August 6 via Amazon and Samsung Shop.

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Apps

India further bans 47 Chinese apps

PUBG Mobile could join the list

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July 28, 2020

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A few weeks ago India announced a complete ban on 59 Chinese-origin apps. The list included popular apps like TikTok and UC Browser. Now, the Government of India has released a new list that extends the ban. In total, the country has raised red flags against 106 apps.

Sources in the government told The Indian Express that, “the problem is with the operational ethics of certain apps. This is an ongoing process. If apps qualify under the same grounds of operational ethics, then they will also come under the scanner.”

The government has cited data privacy and protection to curtail the operation of these apps. The new list includes TikTok Lite, Helo Lite, SHAREit Lite, BIGO LIVE Lite, and VFY Lite. TikTok is among the most popular apps to go under the bus and developers are swarming to bridge the vacuum left by its absence.

A few reports have alleged that the government has prepared a list of 275 apps that are currently under scrutiny. The list includes big names like PUBG Mobile, Resso, AliExpress, and more.

The government wants to encourage local companies to come up with alternatives to the banned apps. It further also announced an app challenge to motivate individual developers to come up with innovative solutions.

India and China were involved in a border dispute that resulted in the death of 20 Indian Army men. Anti-China sentiments are at an all-time high and authorities are trying to reduce their dependence on Chinese technology.

TikTok isn’t the only one that’s stuck in the crosshairs. Chinese telecom equipment maker, Huawei, is also barred from supplying 4G equipment to state-run telecom operators. The private telecom sector is also leaning towards alternatives like Ericcson, Nokia, and Samsung.

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India

Apple starts making top-of-the-line iPhone 11 in India

A price drop is soon expected

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July 24, 2020

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India’s Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal confirmed that Apple has started making its flagship offering, iPhone 11, in the country. Apple has gradually ramped up its assembly line in India and the iPhone XR entered production nine months ago.

Local sourcing will help the company avoid a 20 percent import duty. The sale price of the iPhone 11 is expected to reduce in the coming days as the import duty exemption will soon be passed onto the end buyer.

 

Apple has currently partnered with Foxconn, Wistron, and Pegatron to make iPhones in India. Previous reports have confirmed that Apple intends to reduce its reliance on China and shall be pumping close to US$ 40 billion in India as investments over the coming years.

The same plant also manufactured the previous generation iPhone SE before it was discontinued. There are plans to make the iPhone SE (2020) in India and it should commence soon. The low-cost iPhone is an essential offering for Apple in a developing country and local production will give it a further edge in terms of pricing.

India is the world’s second-largest smartphone market and pretty much every major phone maker has local sourcing available. Samsung has the world’s largest facility in Noida, OPPO also has a facility in Noida, and Xiaomi makes its phones in Sri City.

There is a rising anti-China sentiment in the country due to a fresh border conflict and many groups have called for a boycott of Chinese-made goods. However, analysts have confirmed that smartphone sales haven’t been affected yet due to their Chinese 0rigins.

Read Also: Forget iPhone 11, Apple’s secret weapon is the iPhone XR

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