iPhone 15 in early production stage, Apple to speed up iPhone 15 manufacturing in India: Report

Published On: January 10, 2023

Highlights

Apple iPhone 15 has reportedly entered trial production in China.
Apple is planning to speed up iPhone manufacturing in India.
The tech giant plans to launch the iPhone 15 series in the second half of the year.

After successfully launching the iPhone 14 series in 2022, tech giant Apple is preparing to unveil the iPhone 15 series this year in the fall. Keeping that in mind, the tech giant has likely started testing the iPhone 15 in China and is seeking to speed up production in India as well, according to a report by Economic Daily News.

Show Full Article

The report notes that Foxconn, a manufacturer of Apple iPhones, has started the first stage of manufacturing for the iPhone 15 in the form of initial trial production, also referred to as new product introduction (NPI). Each year, Apple goes through the process in the first quarter to determine how the production will go when the new iPhones are finalised.

“NPI is the most important preparation work before Apple mass-produces new machines. In the first quarter of each year, Apple usually issues a trial production order for new products to the foundry, that is, Apple will introduce the plan for this year’s new product to the foundry, and then the foundry will prepare the bill of materials (BOM), establish proper production and testing machines, a quality monitoring process must also be established,” reads a translation of the report.

iPhone 15 production in India

The report suggests that the NPI for the new iPhone this year differs slightly from prior years. The main reason is said to be the closing of the time gap between the mass production of iPhones in mainland China and India. Previously, it took between six and nine months to complete mass manufacturing between the two locations. This year, the months will be cut down to a few weeks.

Several reports in the past have mentioned that the tech giant will manufacture the upcoming iPhone 15 simultaneously in India and China. In November, a central minister said that the country is gearing up to manufacture more iPhones as Apple’s largest iPhone manufacturing facility in India is being built in Hosur, around 40 kms from Bengaluru. Apple has chosen Tata Electronics, which has a factory in Hosur, to produce iPhone enclosures. The iPhone SE was the first model of the iPhone that Apple began producing in India in 2017.

Meanwhile, the company plans to launch four new iPhones this year, including iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus, iPhone 15 Pro, and iPhone 15 Pro Max, which might also be renamed to iPhone 15 Ultra.