Mumbai-based Tata Group has acquired Taiwanese firm Wistron’s iPhone manufacturing facility in the southwestern state of Karnataka. The Tata Group will take over the manufacturing of iPhone in India, according to a statement from the nation’s Deputy IT minister
The news comes via a Twitter post by Electronics and Technology Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar. Wistron has assembled various iPhone models at the facility since 2017.
PM @narendramodi Ji's visionary PLI scheme has already propelled India into becoming a trusted & major hub for smartphone manufacturing and exports.
Now within just two and a half years, @TataCompanies will now start making iPhones from India for domestic and global markets from… pic.twitter.com/kLryhY7pvL
— Rajeev Chandrasekhar 🇮🇳(Modiyude Kutumbam) (@Rajeev_GoI) October 27, 2023
Wistron announced on Friday that it has plans to sell Karnataka operations to Tata in a transaction valued at US$125 million. Tata will own a 100% stake in Wistron InfoComm Manufacturing (India) Private Limited (WMMI) following board approval, according to a statement.
Wistron had been a long-time Apple manufacturing partner in the region. However, the firm is turning to its operations in Vietnam and Mexico to inflate its bottom line.
While an unnamed Wistron executive told India’s Economic Times that Wistron was too small to have enough leverage to negotiate better terms with Apple to yield a profit, Wistron has shot itself in the foot in the past.
Operations of Wistron’s iPhone factory in the country have proven to be problematic for the Apple assembly partner, as a few years ago employees rioted over having their pay shorted. The incident resulted in Apple’s placing Wistron on probation.
Once Tat Electronics has taken over the Indian iPhone assembly operations, Wistron will begin the process of pulling out of the country.
