- Tata Sons might soon close a deal to acquire Wistron’s existing plant near Bangalore for around Rs 5,000 crores.
- This will make Tata the first homegrown company to start a production line for Apple products.
- Tata Group could start assembling the iPhone 15 by this year’s end.
Tata might soon be closing in on a deal to acquire the Taiwanese firm Wistron’s existing plant near Bangalore for around Rs 5,000 crores. This will be a historic move and Tata will become India’s first homegrown production line for Apple products. This news doesn’t come as a surprise considering Tata has been in talks with Taiwan-based Wistron Corp. for months. If the deal is signed, Tata Group could start assembling the iPhone 15 by this year’s end. We can probably speculate this will happen after the unveiling in September.
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.
