CHENNAI : Tata Group plans to build a major iPhone assembly plant with 20 assembly lines, according to a report. The Group wants to build that factory in Hosur, Krishnagiri district of Tamil Nadu, which is in close proximity of Bengaluru.
According to the Bloomberg report, the factory will have 50,000 workers, making it the biggest iPhone assembly plant in the country. This facility is expected to be operational in 12 to 18 months. Tata Electronics has already started hiring in its existing Hosur facility, it said.
Tata Electronics already has a manufacturing facility at Hosur, which employs a workforce of nearly 5,000. It manufactures outer cases for mobile phones.It acquired Wistron’s iPhone assembly facility at Bengaluru for $125 million in October 2023. The factory has a headcount of 10,000 and reportedly committed to ship iPhone worth $1.4 billion targeting production linked incentives.
Tata Electronics, a greenfield venture of Tata Group, founded in 2020, bets big on iPhone assembly and other electronic devices manufacturing, even as other contract manufacturers exit iPhone assembly business citing thin margins.
However, Tata’s facility will not be comparable to mega factories which are found in China and Taiwan. Tata group has also announced plans to open 100 Apple stores across the country. Apple is diversifying its operations away from China by working with assembly and component manufacturers in India, Thailand, Malaysia, among others. Tata Electronics provides a reliable alternative for Apple to diversify away from China.