NEW DELHI: Tata Group will become the first Indian company to assemble iPhones in India as the company is set to acquire Taiwan-based Wistron Corp, one of the contract manufacturers of Apple in India. According to sources, the agreement could be sealed as early as August 2023.
“This news about the Tata Companies getting one step closer to manufacturing the iconic iPhone for global markets is a very positive development and it will help grow the Indian electronic manufacturing and supply chain/component ecosystem. The government welcomes this move,” said Minister of State in the Ministry of Electronics and information technology Rajeev Chandrasekar in a tweet.
The Wistron’s factory in Karnataka manufactures iPhones including the latest iPhone 14, and currently, it employs over 10,000 workers. The company is valued at $600 million now. It is believed that initially, Wistron will continue to provide technical support to Tata Group. Also, the Tata group will retain some personnel. Wistron entered in the Indian market in 2008 with a repair facility, and in 2017 it started manufacturing iPhones for Apple.
The US-based tech giant Apple has increased its production in India in the past few years. According to sources, Wistron has promised Apple to ship $1.8 billion dollar worth of iPhones by March 2024, and triple its workforce in its Kolam factory by next year. Now, Tat Group will have to fulfil these commitments.