Apple iPhone 7 to now be 'Assembled in India' with OEM maker Wistron, prices start from Rs 39,990

After starting the assembly of iPhone SE and iPhone 6S in India, Apple has announced that it will now start the local manufacturing of iPhone 7 as well. The assembly of iPhones will be handled by global OEM manufacturer Wistron which has a plant in Bengaluru.[caption id="attachment_4149143" align="alignnone" width="380"] Apple iPhone 7 and 7 Plus.[/caption]According to Apple, the iPhone 7 32 GB and 128 GB will be selling in India for a price of Rs 39,990 and Rs 49,990 respectively. To be clear Wistron has not mentioned anything about the iPhone 7 Plus so we assume that only the iPhone 7 is in the pipeline for manufacturing.While this is good news, analysts, as per an ETtech report, say that it is unlikely that the price of the iPhone 7 will drop as Apple would look to invest the margins coming from this deal into a more aggressive marketing strategy.Apple has for long been struggling with faltering iPhone sales in the world's second-biggest smartphone market. This could be attributed to Apple's ludicrous pricing on its devices which stem from the heavy import taxes levied by the Indian government on products not manufactured in India.In January-end Tim Cook explained factors behind the struggle in iPhone sales in emerging markets — which applies to India. The CEO pointed out that “weak macro-conditions” in certain emerging markets were more severe than what the company ‘foresaw’ in China. Foreign exchange is another key factor behind the slow iPhone sales, Cook said.While there is intense pressure on iPhone sales and numbers, Cook noted, “iPhone subsidies are becoming increasingly less common,”  according to an IANS report.Even so, having a local manufacturing process for iPhones is perhaps the sure shot way for Apple to cut down on prices and get better sales in the country."We are proud to be producing iPhone 7 in Bengaluru for our local customers furthering our long-term commitment in India,” said Apple in its report.Apple also shared some of the findings of its annual supplier report. In its 13th Annual Supplier Responsibility report 2019, Apple said there has been a substantial gain in health education among supplier workers at Wistron Bengaluru. There is an 85 percent increase in knowledge about early cancer detection, 60 percent increase in knowledge about nutrition and 54 per cent increase in knowledge about diabetes, hypertension and cholesterol among the supplier workers in India.[caption id="attachment_6370621" align="alignnone" width="640"] Apple iPhone 7 to now be 'Assembled in India'. Image: Apple[/caption]Just to recap, here are the major specs of the iPhone 7:

• 4.7-inch Retina HD display
• iOS 12 the world’s most personal and secure mobile operating system
• Water and dust resistant (rated IP67)2
• 12 MP camera with HDR and 4K video at 30 fps
• 7 MP FaceTime HD camera with HDR
• Touch ID for secure authentication
• A10 Fusion chip

You can read the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus review.