India – Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “Make in India” campaign initiated in 2017 identified 25 sectors that include Roads and Highways, Automobile Components, Electrical Machinery and Information Technology and Business Process Management amongst others. The “Make in India” campaign gives attractive financial benefits for companies setting up businesses in India which maybe paying off with Apples plan to set up a major factory in the country to manufacture its iPhone 14. Apple is unlikely to stop with just iPhones and could extend its operations to computers, tablets and laptops which is likely to depend on how successful the iPhone manufacturing moves forward.
With a growing population of over 1.4 billion which is set to overtake Chinas population next year it would come as no surprise to many external observers that Apple would shift some of its operations from China to India. The youth of India have always been tech savvy and being the country with the largest youth population making up over 60 percent of the country’s population, the market is most definitely huge. Over 50% of India’s population use smartphones and Tablet usage exceeds a 150 million, however laptop usage figures are less attractive with less than 20% penetration of the population, but this figure may not grow significantly as there is a global trend of tech users switching away from desktops and laptops and migrating towards smart phone and tablets.
Apples moves are highly likely to inspire other major global tech players who have always shown a keen interest in India particularly to tap its large market, however the shift to India is unlikely mean any shift away from China as only part of Apples operations have shifted to cater to the large domestic market and possibly other regional markets. One of the biggest concerns for international companies is India’s strict customs policies on international products which some critics argue are needed to protect the local players.
