India’s Tata set to become first local iPhone maker as Taiwanese company exits
Tata Group, India’s largest and oldest conglomerate, is close to finalizing a deal that will make it the first Indian company to assemble Apple iPhones, Bloomberg has reported, citing sources. Under the agreement, which could be sealed in August, Tata will acquire a factory owned by Taiwanese-based Wistron that assembles the devices in the southern Indian state of Karnataka.
The deal is the result of nearly a year’s worth of negotiations, Bloomberg noted. The potential takeover was first reported in January of this year and was later said to have been completed by April.
The Wistron factory is valued at $600 million and employs more than 10,000 workers. It assembles the iPhone 14 model, mainly for the international market. Local media reports earlier this year noted that Tata Group had already started organizational changes at the plant. The factory made headlines in December 2020 after workers vandalized the premises, citing unpaid salaries. Apple then admitted that its ‘Supplier Code of Conduct’ had been violated at the facility, and accused Wistron of failing to implement proper working-hour management processes.
Wistron exported iPhones worth almost $500 million in the first quarter of this financial year (April-June), and reportedly committed to ship iPhones worth $1.8 billion by the end of the fiscal year (March 2024) to receive financial incentives from the government. The manufacturer was also planning to triple the workforce by next year. Tata Group will reportedly stick to these commitments as the Taiwanese player is said to be exiting India. Once confirmed, the deal will make Tata Group the first Indian company to manufacture iPhones, providing a much-needed boost to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Make in India’ initiative that projects the country as the ‘world’s factory’, rivaling China.
Wistron is one of Apple’s key Taiwanese suppliers, in addition to Foxconn Technology Group and Pegatron Corp. The other two companies have also expanded their presence in India and several other Southeast Asian countries, including Vietnam and Indonesia, in a bid to diversify operations.
Notably, Foxconn on Monday announced its exit from a much-discussed $19.5 billion semiconductor joint venture with Indian conglomerate Vedanta, allegedly due to concerns over delays to the approval of government incentives. The company, however, later said it was “committed to India and sees the country successfully establishing a robust semiconductor manufacturing ecosystem.” It added that it intends to apply for incentives under India’s semiconductor production.
