Apple begins assembling iPhone 13 on trial basis in India, to be available early next year

New Delhi: Apple has started assembling its new flagship iPhone 13 in India, as the tech giant prepares to manufacture/assemble its top-of-the-line smartphones in the country.

Industry sources told IANS on Tuesday that iPhone 13 is being assembled on trial basis at the Foxconn plant in Chennai, in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of 'Make in India'.

Foxconn is the company's largest manufacturing partner globally.

The 'make in India' iPhone 13 will be available in the domestic market, as well as for exports from the country by early next year, the sources said.

Apple generally begins assembling new and environment-friendly iPhones in India after three-four month of their global and domestic launch.

Apple is reportedly ramping up production of iPhones, iPads, Macs, and other devices in India and Vietnam to end its dependence on China.

The tech giant is already assembling its highest-selling models iPhone 12, iPhone 11 and XR in India, along with iPhone SE, 7 and 6S.

Apple started manufacturing iPhones in India in 2017 with iPhone SE.

The Apple iPhone 13 series for which pre-orders were thrown open in India on September 17, received a record response.

iPhone 13 had grabbed 3 per cent market share in Q3, and the newly-launched series was set to break all records in the festive quarter (Q4) in the country.

Apple registered a whopping 150 per cent growth (on-quarter) for iPhones in the July-September period (Q3) in India, shipping over 1.53 million units in the country, as per insights from market research firm CyberMedia Research (CMR).

On the year-on-year (YoY) front, iPhones registered a 28 per cent growth.

For the entire year, iPhones are estimated to have 3.5 per cent market share in India.

The iPhone 13 starts at Rs 79,900 for 128GB storage, Rs 89,900 for 256GB and Rs 1,09,900 for the 512GB option.