In a new report, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo believes Apple could start a New Product Introduction of the standard iPhone 17 in India, as the company wouldn’t develop a new iPhone in China for the first time.
According to the analyst, due to the “lower-difficulty design development,” which could reduce design risk, Apple could start planning and developing how the iPhone 17 will be manufactured in India and not in China – although the Pro models would likely stay in the Asian country.
If everything goes according to the plan, the NPI is expected to kick off in the second half of 2024 for a 2025 release. In addition, Apple wants to produce more iPhones in India with Foxconn’s help. Currently, 12-14% of global iPhone shipments are made in the country. Apple wants to increase this proportion to 20-25% by 2024.
Kuo says: “Foxconn’s production scale in Zhengzhou and Taiyuan, China, is expected to decrease by 35–45% and 75–85%, respectively, by 2024. In addition to expanding production in India, Luxshare’s rapid increase in iPhone order allocation and improvements in production line automation are also the main reasons for the production scale reduction.”
Interestingly, although the iPhone 17, which is expected to be introduced in 2025, will maintain the Dynamic Island cutout – according to display analyst Ross Young – this might be the year Apple adds Always-On Display and ProMotion to the standard iPhones.
This change would occur because Apple plans to embed the Face ID TrueDepth sensor under the panel, meaning that the iPhone 17 Pro would likely have a brand new design after two years of the same Dynamic Island cutout introduced with the iPhone 14 Pro.
If plans are delayed or anything changes during the development stage, BGR will keep reporting on upcoming iPhone models as Apple tries to reduce its reliance on China.
