As analysts anticipate a greater shift in the American giant's future manufacturing, Apple announced on Monday that it has begun assembling the iPhone 14 models in India. This marks the first time the current lineup has been locally produced in the same calendar year in the second-largest smartphone market in the world.

The smartphone is being produced in the Sriperumbudur factory near Chennai by the company's international partner Foxconn. Later this year, the locally made iPhone models will start selling in the nation. An Apple representative said, "we're thrilled to be manufacturing iPhone 14 in India."

Apple started assembling iPhones locally in India in 2017, but up until this year, the iPhone manufacturer had only used the country's manufacturing facilities to assemble handsets from earlier generations. The iPhone 14 versions were introduced by Apple earlier this month. 

By 2025, according to analysts, Apple will gradually reduce its reliance on China, where it has been manufacturing the vast majority of its gadgets for more than a decade, and turn India into a worldwide hub for iPhone production. According to research released earlier this month by JP Morgan analysts, Apple would increase its manufacturing capacity in India to create 25% of all iPhones by 2025 and relocate 5% of global iPhone 14 production there by late 2022.

In recent years, India has drawn investments from Apple's manufacturing partners Foxconn and Wistron by providing generous subsidies as New Delhi works to establish the nation as a manufacturing hub. According to JP Morgan analysts, the presence of international production behemoths, along with "ample labor resources and competitive labor costs," make India a viable site.

"India's iPhone supply chain has historically supplied only legacy models. Interestingly, Apple has requested that EMS vendors manufacture iPhone 14/14 Plus models in India in 4Q22, within two to three months of the start of production in Mainland China. The much shorter interval implies the increasing importance of India production and likely higher iPhone allocations to India manufacturing in the future," the report added.

Due to the more difficult camera module alignment of the iPhone Pro series (performed by EMS vendors) and the greater local market demand for the iPhone 14 series, Apple only manufactures iPhone 14/14 Plus models in India at this time (tax savings). In 4Q22, the company anticipates a low volume to begin (1M units per month, or 5% of the overall iPhone sales).

Many people would expect that Apple will lower the cost of its mobile devices in India as it increases its capability for domestic production there. The base iPhone 14 model costs 79,900 Indian rupees ($980), which is equivalent to $799 in the United States. While the entry-level iPhone Pro Max model in the U.S. has a sticker price of $1,099, it costs $1,717 in India.