Apple has now started trial production of the iPhone 13 at the Foxconn plant near Chennai in India, in a move to boost the country’s iPhone manufacturing capacity. The iPhone maker expects to commence commercial production at the same facility by February 2022.

Reportedly, Apple was able to plan its expansion of iPhone production in India after it was able to procure a supply of semiconductor chips amid the global semiconductor crisis. This will bolster its presence in the Indian market and boost global market supplies since around 20 to 30 percent of India’s iPhone production is reserved for exports.

Seventy percent of all the smartphones that Apple sells in India are manufactured in the country. The iPhone 12 and the iPhone 11 are both manufactured in the same Foxconn plant near Chennai, India, whereas the iPhone SE is manufactured in the Wistron plant, Bengaluru.

The Cupertino-based tech firm plans to make all its best-selling smartphones within the country. When it comes to the iPhone 13 series, the iPhone 13 is Apple’s best-selling device in India, which could be the reason why the company is manufacturing it first. In fact, the device is so popular that its sales exceed that of the iPhone 13 mini despite the latter being cheaper of the two.

Apple is only manufacturing the iPhone 13 in India and not the Pro models. Instead, the company imports these models in the country, due to which they attract a lot of custom duty which makes them exorbitantly expensive.