If the talks materialize, then Tata Group will become the first Indian company to make iPhones.
Tata Group is in talks with Wistron Corp., a Taiwan-based electronics manufacturer, to establish a joint venture for manufacturing iPhones in India, Bloomberg reported.
According to the report, which cited people aware of the matter, the Indian multinational conglomerate wants to tap Wistron Corp’s expertise in product development, supply chain and assembly. Wistron and Foxconn Technology Group are currently assembling iPhones in India as well as in its neighboring country China.
If the talks materialize, then Tata Group will become the first Indian company to make iPhones, boosting the nation’s efforts to challenge China that is facing political tensions with the U.S and simultaneously convince other global electronic brands to establish manufacturing facilities in the country. China is currently facing supply constraints amid closure of factories due to the Covid-19 pandemic and this makes India, which is Asia’s third largest economy, an attractive alternative.
Apple, Tata Group and Wistron has not responded on the same yet. However, the Bloomberg report further added that the Indian conglomerate could purchase equity in Wistron’s India operations or both the companies could build a new assembly plan or could execute both the moves.
Furthermore, the new partnership could aid in five times increase in the number of iPhones that are currently assembled by Wistron, which has its iPhone assembling plant in the southern Indian state of Karnataka. Tata Group can also obtain the Taiwanese company’s manufacturing business beyond smartphones, the report added.
Tata is a renowned and trusted brand in India as well as across the globe in industries like software, steel and automobiles. It has also been designing and manufacturing Apple’s mechanical parts in its facility in Tamil Nadu for nearly two years. Hence, while the partnership could give Wistron, which is struggling with losses, a local partner with deep pockets and a better reach, it could lend Tata a firmer foot in the electronics industry.
