Tata may soon manufacture iPhones in India, with acquisition talks with Wistron currently underway
Tata may soon acquire Apple’s production plant, Wistron, in India to manufacture iPhones. As per news reports, Tata group is currently in talks with Taiwan’s Wistron to buy its manufacturing facility for up to Rs. 5,000 crores ($612.6 million).
Both Apple Wistron and Tata have refused to divulge any details on the same. The Wistron plant that Tata is eyeing is in Karnataka. Tata is looking to buy Wistron for Rs 5000 crore. If the deal goes through, Tata will be the first Indian company to manufacture iPhones in India, a task currently performed by Taiwanese manufacturers such as Wistron, Foxconn, and Pegatron. Wistron began producing iPhones in 2017. Tata was looking to establish a joint electronics manufacturing unit with Wistron to produce iPhones in India.
Apple currently operates three manufacturing facilities in India: Wistron, Pegatron, and Foxconn. Apple recently announced that it will begin producing the newly released iPhone 14 in Foxconn’s Sriperumbudur facility in Chennai. “We’re thrilled to be manufacturing the iPhone 14 in India,” the company said in a statement. “The new iPhone 14 lineup introduces groundbreaking new technologies and critical safety capabilities,” the company added. In India, Foxconn is not the only iPhone 14 manufacturer. Pegatron recently began manufacturing the device in India. To recall, Apple already produces a line of iPhones in India, including the iPhone 13, iPhone 12, and iPhone SE.
On a related note, the production of iPhone 14 Pro models has been severely impacted by ongoing tensions at the company’s Foxconn plant in Zhengzhou, China. According to reports, over 20,000 employees, including new hires, have left Foxconn a day after violent protests erupted at the company’s Zhengzhou plant in China. Workers had expressed dissatisfaction with their working conditions, which erupted into protests in recent days. In an attempt to quell the protests, Foxconn offered to pay newly hired workers 10,000 yuan ($1400) to leave the facility. The company urged employees to return to their dormitories in a message to employees obtained by CNN. The company also promised to pay them 8000 yuan if they agreed to leave Foxconn and another 2000 yuan once they boarded the bus to leave.
