Tata Group to manufacture Apple iPhone 15 and 15 Plus in India, report says

“Due to geopolitical and pandemic, Apple has been accelerating the diversification of its supply sources, with India being the most well-known case for such transfer. According to TrendForce, India’s Tata Group is expected to become the fourth iPhone assembler for Apple,” the report says.

Initially, Tata Group will receive smaller orders which means that the company will get only small orders for the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus. The TrendForce report says that there could be three implications of Apple’s relocation plan.

First is that the development could indicate that India will be part of the first wave of shipments for the new iPhone series that is expected to launch in September this year. Second implication is that Tata’s entry into the iPhone assembly business means Wistron’s exit from the country. Not to forget Tata Group has already purchased Wistron’s iPhone plant in Bengaluru.

Lastly, Tata will be the fourth company to undertake iPhone assembly business in India which started in 2020 for iPhone 12 Pro Max assembly. At present, Foxconn, Luxshare and Pegatron have iPhone assembly plants in India. 

In its report, TrendForce emphasized that although Tata’s share of assembly orders for various iPhone models is only 5% in 2023, it still shows an accelerating trend of Apple’s production relocation.

Apple iPhone 15 series is likely to make its debut in September later this year. The 2023 iPhone series may consist of four models – iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus, iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max. The handsets will come powered by Apple’s A16 Bionic chipset and will run the latest iOS software.