India’s Tata Group has become part of the elite group that will manufacture iPhones. As per the latest update, the Tata Group has signed a binding share purchase agreement with Wistron Hong Kong Limited and SMS InfoComm (Singapore) to acquire a 100% equity stake in Wistron Infocomm Manufacturing in India. With the current deal in place, it makes Tata Group part of Apple’s supply chain as an iPhone assembler in India.
The Indian conglomerate has achieved a milestone in signing the share purchase agreement. It is a major step towards the Electronic Manufacturing Services (EMS) and its impressive growth in India as the Government of India is showing strong support towards the same. This comes from the MD and CEO of Tata Electronics – Dr. Randhir Thakur.
Tata Group revealed the plan of action to acquire Wistron’s India manufacturing plant in Karnataka on October 27. It will be paying $125 million for a 100% stake to acquire the assembly lines. With the current development disclosed early on Thursday, the deal stands at a total of $750 million which includes a $550 million inter-corporate loan that Wistron’s parent company has signed for the Tata Group.
Apple has been manufacturing iPhones in India as early as 2017. It has been manufacturing casings at its Hosur plant starting with the semi-finished iPhone SE. With the current acquisition in place, Tata Group will enter the group of elite assemblers in India with end-to-end assembling of iPhones in the country. Currently, Foxconn, Luxshare, Pegatron, and Wistron are leading the manufacturing and assembling of iPhones and Tata Group will take over the manufacturing in India.
As per Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, Tata Electronics along with Pegatron and Foxconn will commence introductory manufacturing of iPhone 17 models that are due in September 2025. The manufacturing will begin as early as the second half of 2024 as Apple sets up to diversify its supply chain taking away Apple’s reliance on China.
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