CHENNAI: TATA Electronics, a wholly owned subsidiary of Tata Sons, is set to make iPhones in India. Taiwan-based Wistron Corp, a contract manufacturer for Apple Inc, said on Friday that it has approved a 100% indirect stake sale of Wistron Infocomm Manufacturing (India), which operates an iPhone assembly plant near Bengaluru, to the Tata firm for $125 million. The Bengaluru plant has reportedly committed to ship iPhones worth $1.4 billion. Tata Electronics declined to comment.
Incorporated in 2020, Tata Electronics has a plant in Tamil Nadu’s Hosur (40 km from Bengaluru). It employs 5,000 people and makes mobile enclosures. With the acquisition of the Bengaluru plant, the Tata Group is set to become India’s first homegrown iPhone assembler, giving a boost to Apple’s efforts to reduce its over-dependence on China. Leading Taiwanese manufacturers Pegatron and Foxconn already have manufacturing facilities near Chennai, where they assemble the iPhone 15.
The Mumbai-headquartered conglomerate has also announced plans to open 100 Apple stores across the country. However, Tata Electronics’ plans are not limited to mobile phone assembly; its stated roadmap is to position itself as a key player in the global semiconductor and precision manufacturing industry.