
Apple will start assembling its premium iPhone models in India - cribbles
https://www.theverge.com/2018/12/27/18157565/apple-expensive-iphone-x-models-assembly-india-tariffs
======
writepub
Pricing plays a pivotal role in purchasing decisions in India. Additionally
paid apps aren't a huge driver. That shifts more focus to hardware specs and
features the local market cares about (dual-sim, uSD card slot, FM Radio).

iPhone XR - Apple's _cheapest_ offering - clocks in at a cool $750. For that
dough, there's no dual-sim, uSD or FM Radio - things valued in India. Compare
that to something like a Xiaomi Mix 3 starting at $550. It's packed full of
hardware features [3] and sports the latest Android, with an impressive DXO
mark rating for the camera [1], that is higher than the iPhone Xr [2]!!

Even if Apple's brand mileage gains it a few new followers, I'd call it an
extremely uphill battle for them to be relevant in India at the Price:Features
game they're playing.

[1]: [https://www.dxomark.com/xiaomi-mi-mix-3-camera-
review/](https://www.dxomark.com/xiaomi-mi-mix-3-camera-review/)

[2]: [https://www.dxomark.com/apple-iphone-xr-camera-
review/](https://www.dxomark.com/apple-iphone-xr-camera-review/)

[3]:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykib2NjKtA0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykib2NjKtA0)

------
walrus01
This is the same idea as Hondas assembled in Pakistan from knock down kits to
avoid a import tariff. I doubt any of the parts will actually be made in
India, they'll be importing the pieces and hiring workers to do the manual
assembly.

[https://www.pakwheels.com/blog/cbu-skd-ckd-
vehicles/](https://www.pakwheels.com/blog/cbu-skd-ckd-vehicles/)

~~~
selimthegrim
Are people just not buying the cars smuggled through the tribal areas from
Dubai anymore? Has Honda stopped dumping old models on the Pak market?

------
ohiovr
While maybe not admitting so this is an excellent hedge against the Apple
doomsday scenario: trade war goes full vindictive. China already sees that it
has with ZTE and Huawei. If China threw Apple out of China just to spite us a
trillion dollars of equity could vanish.

Smart move I think.

~~~
Despegar
The CPC will never do anything to materially harm Apple because their only
real concern is their continued rule of China. Assembly of Apple products
employs hundreds of thousands of workers and having that many people
unemployed and angry is a threat to their regime. Not to mention the immediate
capital flight that would occur, irreparably damaging FDI in China. This
political juice Apple has is the same reason why iMessage and FaceTime aren't
blocked in China, despite being end-to-end encrypted.

Apple is assembling in India for the same reason they assemble in Brazil, to
satisfy protectionist policies.

~~~
ohiovr
An iPhone not bought is a Huawei phone that is. As for iMessage and all that
Apple has an agreement to host special China iCloud services. Without American
soybeans China just mandates less protein in feed. As if biological machinery
doesn’t care about politics.

And of course there will be capital flight, no question.

Can’t do business with a country you are in territorial squabbles with or an
all out war. IBM not withstanding of course..

~~~
Despegar
>An iPhone not bought is a Huawei phone that is

People outside of China aren't going to buy Huawei phones, partly because
Huawei is being banned from western nations as we speak. Android phones are
not really substitutes for iPhones, customers demand iPhones specifically so
that doesn't really make sense.

>As for iMessage and all that Apple has an agreement to host special China
iCloud services.

China mandates data localization for Chinese user data, that doesn't change
anything about iMessage and FaceTime's end-to-end encryption.

>Without American soybeans China just mandates less protein in feed. As if
biological machinery doesn’t care about politics.

When China stops buying soybeans from the US, it hurts American farmers. They
are substituting them with soybeans from Brazil. But harming Apple isn't just
harming American interests, it also harms their own. That's why Apple is
pretty safe from any retaliation.

~~~
ohiovr
Divorce gets real vindictive real fast

