After Apple introduced the iPhone in 2007, that moment was often compared to the invention of the wheel. It would also be an understatement to call it just a lifestyle product, as fundamental as its impact on the economy, society and politics has been since then. Together with many other companies that now produce cheaper smartphones, Apple has changed the lifestyle of a large part of humanity. Just when it comes to swiping across screens of all kinds.
Since the iPhone still sets the benchmark for this product category, a so-called iPhone index appears with every new model that comes onto the market. This calculates what proportion of your average annual salary you would have to spend on the new device, depending on the country in which you live. There are several of these indices, some of which are provided by mobile phone providers or Comparison portals calculated, sometimes only by diagram friends like in “World of Statistics”. They differ a little from each other, but a trend can be seen.
In Myanmar, for example, a country torn by civil war, according to a survey, you would have to spend almost 90 percent of an average annual income on a new iPhone 15. In crisis-hit Pakistan it is still just under 66 percent. This explains why an iPhone in Islamabad is on par with a Rolex in terms of status. People are more likely to make phone calls with cheap smartphones from China. Things get interesting in countries like India and Vietnam, where around 40 percent of the average annual salary would still be due for a new iPhone. Apple has increasingly been manufacturing its products in both countries since the Californian company has been trying to reduce its dependence on China.
Foxconn wants to double its investments in India
Most of the devices are manufactured by the tech giant Foxconn from Taiwan. Foxconn has already outsourced part of the iPhone 15 production to India, which is in fierce competition with China. “We will work even harder to give you an even bigger birthday present next year,” wrote Vincent Lee, Foxconn representative in India, on the business platform Linkedin on Sunday as a congratulation on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 73rd birthday. Foxconn wants to double its investments in India.
The company already operates an iPhone factory in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, where 40,000 people are employed. In Karnataka, around 600 million US dollars are now to be invested in two additional production sites. This also makes sense because there are a lot of skilled English-speaking professionals in India who do first-class work. Of course, the specialists cannot afford an expensive iPhone 15 from this work, but rather switch to Chinese Oppo or Vivo smartphones. The iPhones will continue to be produced under harsh working conditions in Asia and then sold in the rest of the world as expensive lifestyle products. In Germany and Austria, for example, only around 2.8 percent of the annual income is due.