From the Article:
Tata Group is closing in on an agreement to acquire Apple's supplier factory in India. The factory could be acquired by August and once closed this will be the first time a local company will start assembling iPhones.
According to news agency Bloomberg, Tata Group is looking to takeover a Wistron Corporation factory in Karnataka. The factory has more than 10,000 employees is valued at over $600 million and currently assembles the iPhone 14 model.
Wistron Corp. has committed to shipping $1.8 billion dollar worth of iPhones by the fiscal year ending March 2024 and triple the workforce of the factory by next year. The Bloomberg report claims that Tata Group will honour these commitments after acquiring the factory. The acquisition of the Wistron Corp factory will mean the end of the Taiwanese company's iPhone manufacturing operation in India.
Indian government has introduced various programmes in recent years to encourage manufacturing in the country. On the other hand, Apple has also been looking to diversify its iPhone production beyond China to other South Asian countries. Other major Apple suppliers, such as Foxconn Group and Pegatron Corporation, have also recently increased their production.
The production of iPhones by an Indian brand could motivate other global companies to consider manufacturing in India in order to reduce their reliance on China.
An earlier report by TrendForce had claimed that the upcoming iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus models could be manufactured in India by the Tata Group. The report claimed that the Tata Group will receive smaller orders which means that the company will get only small orders for the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus.
It could also mean that India becomes part of the first wave of shipments for the new iPhone series that is expected to launch in September this year.