Apple's Greed Could Dent the iPhone's Momentum in This Market

India could prove to be a big market for the tech titan, but it has to stop being greedy.

$苹果 (AAPL.US)$has finally kicked off production of a high-end device in India -- the iPhone XR. This marks a departure from Apple's strategy of making only older iPhones in the Asian country, where the lack of technical skill had restricted the company to making iPhone 6s and iPhone 7 models.

But a fresh $1 billion investment by Apple's manufacturing partners in India seems to have given the tech giant the expertise to make newer iPhone models. In fact, Apple plans to begin production of the highly popular iPhone 11 in India as well, according to The Economic Times.

This should ideally be great news, as the company will now be able to save the 20% import duty by manufacturing locally. A lower duty will help Apple reduce its bill of materials and price the iPhone 11 much more competitively by passing on the benefit to customers. But sadly, Apple has something else in mind.

Apple won't be reducing prices in India
Executives interviewed by The Economic Times have said that Apple does not plan to reduce prices in India despite beginning local production of the iPhone XR. That makes sense, as the iPhone XR currently retails for 44,999 rupees (roughly $630) in India, which is just 5% higher than what the device retails for in the U.S. market.