A month after the production of Apple’s newest iPhone 14 series began in India, the government on Wednesday informed that the smartphone is facing supply constraints in the country.
In a tweet, the minister of information technology, Rajeev Chandrashekhar said, “I have spoken with Apple and they have said while iPhone14 demand is being met also with India production, the iPhone14 Pro demand has surged and is facing supply constraints.” The minister also said that the available stock of smartphones is through private channels.
He was responding to a tweet that said the Apple iPhone 14 Pro and Apple Pro Max smartphones have been out of stock in Delhi-NCR for weeks, but the private players are selling the newest smartphones in black.
On Flipkart, all Apple iPhone 14 Pro models with 128GB variant are showing either sold out or coming soon, whereas, on Amazon, the delivery of these models are showing an estimated time of arrival (ETA) of 10 to 15 days.
Notably, though Apple has been assembling its iPhone SE, iPhone 12 and iPhone 13 in India, this is the first time that the California-based smartphone maker has begun manufacturing its flagship iPhone in the country in a bid to shift from China and focus in the Indian market.
Apple in a statement had said, “The new iPhone 14 lineup introduces groundbreaking new technologies and important safety capabilities. We’re excited to be manufacturing the iPhone 14 in India.”
As of 2021, Apple has a market share of 3.8% in India, and is aiming to capture a market share of 5% by the current calendar year-end. By 2025, Apple aims to manufacture 25% of all iPhones in the country.
At present, the Indian smartphone market is dominated by Chinese smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi and Korean smartphone manufacturer Samsung.
Apple iPhone 14, which was launched globally on September 7 this year, remains divided into two sets i.e. the regular and the advanced. In India, the base variant of the iPhone 14 is ₹79,900 for 128GB. The 256GB and 512GB models are priced at ₹89,900 and ₹1,09,900. The iPhone 14 Plus, which differs from the regular model only in size, is priced at ₹89,900 for the base 128GB variant. Other variants are 256GB and 512GB models that are priced at ₹99,900 and ₹1,19,900.
