When it came out, the Apple iPhone 6S was a welcome upgrade for Apple fans who had been stuck with the 5S and did not want to upgrade to the slower 6.
It promised to be faster and had a host of improvements over the existing 6 and it lived up to the expectations. However as with the cell phone industry, Apple went on to update the 6S with the 7 and in the latest iterations we have the XR, XS and XS Max.
Along the way, screen size increased, number of cameras increased, RAM increased and so did the prices. But Apple still faced a whole lot of problems in emerging markets such as India. For example, there was stiff competition from Chinese manufacturers such as Xiaomi which was pumping out new models every 4-6 months.
As a response, Apple came up with the fully loaded yet significantly cheaper iPhone SE which was manufactured in India and hence joined the Make in India banner in 2017. Apple also recently added the iPhone 6S to the Make in India line up with its own dedicated advertising campaign. Some would say Apple was forced to do this in view of the tariff hike last October which made the products phenomenally expensive. It is expected to add the 7 and X line-ups soon.
So Apple has got its own manufacturing base in India, what next? Well Apple's new strategy is making privacy super expensive. But that wont sell in India. It would need more custom-models for the Indian markets which is in line with the trend set by the Chinese counterparts. It would also need more flagship models to be manufactured in India so as to make the prices justifiable.
Personally I feel Apple needs to do both. Both custom models and flagship models need to be manufactured in India. Then probably with the secure/ privacy card, Apple can charge a slight premium and hence earn a larger market share.
Guess manufacturing the 4 year late iPhone 6S is a step in the right direction for Apple. Hope they follow it up by manufacturing the iPhone 11 and 11R series due for launch in September 2019 right from get go.
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