Apple announced on Monday that it has begun manufacturing the new iPhone 14 in India, a first for the tech giant as it shortens the manufacturing period of new iPhones in India, along with China, which is its primary global manufacturing base. This news supports India’s push for local manufacturing.

The locally produced iPhone 14 will go on sale in the nation in the fourth quarter as the business invests billions of dollars to support its local production and assembly plans.

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“The new iPhone 14 lineup introduces groundbreaking new technologies and important safety capabilities. We’re excited to be manufacturing iPhone 14 in India,” Apple told IANS in a statement.

Foxconn is assembling the new iPhone 14 at its Sriperumbudur facility near Chennai.

At this rate, industry observers believe that Apple may produce the iPhone 15 in India and China simultaneously in 2019.

With the release of the iPhone SE in 2017, the tech giant first began producing iPhones in India.

The Foxconn factory in the nation is where Apple produces some of its most technologically advanced iPhones, including the iPhone 11, iPhone 12, and iPhone 13, while the Wistron factory in the nation is where the iPhone SE and iPhone 12 are put together.

According to a JP Morgan research, Apple is projected to relocate 5% of its new iPhone 14 production to India by the end of this year and 25% by 2025 as India increases its focus on domestic manufacturing of technology products.

“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,” according to the JP Morgan report.

“The much shorter interval implies the increasing importance of India production and likely higher iPhone allocations to India manufacturing in the future,” the report noted.

Buoyed by the ease-of-doing business and friendly local manufacturing policies, Apple’s ‘Make in India’ iPhones will potentially account for close to 85 per cent of its total iPhone production for the country this year.

With the iPhone 14 series, Apple’s iPhone production in India is slated to jump from 7 million iPhones in 2021 to touch a new milestone of around 12 million iPhones in 2022, marking a significant growth of more than 71 per cent (year-on-year), according to CMR.