Tata manufacturing iPhone: company close to acquiring Wistron factory in India for Rs 5,000 crore

Tata Sons might assemble iPhone 15 in India

According to a report from Business Standard, Tata Sons Chairman N Chandrasekaran met Apple CEO Tim Cook in Mumbai on Monday and discussed the group’s plans to make and sell Apple products in India. The company is also looking into investing Rs 6,300 crores in the Tata Electronics plant in Hosur, Tamil Nadu. The plan is expected to begin production of Apple products by the end of June.

Besides planning on assembling iPhones in India, Tata Group is also planning on setting up 100 exclusive Apple outlets across India through its electronic chain, Tata Croma. 

Coming back to Bangalore’s 44-acre facility of Wistron, the plant has eight assembly lines and currently manufactures iPhone 14 and iPhone 12 models. For those unaware, Wistron is one of three Taiwanese iPhone manufacturers in India after Foxconn and Pegatron Corp. Wistron has diversified its business beyond iPhone manufacturing into areas like servers, agreeing to sell its iPhone production business in China to a competitor in 2020. 

If Tata’s deal goes through, Wistron could continue as a service partner for iPhones in India. Tata Group is also expected to apply for production-linked incentives offered by the Indian government to encourage local manufacturing of electronic products.