Tata Group is close to signing a deal to acquire Apple supplier Wistron’s factory as soon as August, according to a Bloomberg report. The move will make Tata the first Indian company to move into the assembly of iPhones.
Wistron’s manufacturing facility in Karnataka is potentially valued at over $600 million and employs over 10,000 workers, according to the report. The facility assembles the iPhone 14 model.
Wistron, which plans to triple its workforce at the plant, earlier committed to supply $1.8 billion worth of iPhones from the facility this year. It will diversify Apple’s production away from China.
According to a report by the India Cellular and Electronics Association (ICEA), Apple exported iPhones worth Rs 10,000 crore from India in May, thus becoming the first brand to achieve this milestone in India. In the first two months of 2023-24 (FY24) alone, iPhone exports from India stand at over Rs 20,000 crore ($2.4 billion). In the same period last year, India exported Apple phones worth Rs 9,066 crore.
Apple accounts for 80 per cent of all smartphone exports from India and the rest is shared by Samsung and other brands, the ICEA report said.
There are three contract manufacturers for iPhones in India — Wistron, Foxconn and Pegatron. Pegatron started production in April last year.
To boost electronic manufacturing, the PLI scheme for smartphones was floated in 2020 to boost domestic manufacturing and attract large investments in mobile phone manufacturing and specified electronic components, including assembly, testing, marking and packaging (ATMP) units.
The scheme would tremendously boost the electronics manufacturing landscape and establish India at the global level in the electronics sector.
An incentive of 4-6 per cent is provided on incremental sales (over the base year) of goods manufactured in India and covered under target segments, to eligible companies, for a period of five years subsequent to the base year as defined.
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