Tata Group’s acquisition of Wistron’s iPhone manufacturing unit in Bengaluru is all set to be completed with the latter’s board giving approval to the proposed deal valued at around $125 million. This will make Tatas the first Indian company to make iPhones.
“Wistron Corp held a Board of Directors meeting today and granted approval for its subsidiaries, SMS InfoComm (Singapore) and Wistron Hong Kong to sign the Share Purchase Agreement with Tata Electronics for the sale of its 100 per cent indirect stake in Wistron InfoComm Manufacturing (India)(WMMI),” Wistron announced in the statement.
On confirmation and signing of relevant agreements by both sides, the deal will proceed to obtain necessary approvals.
iphone manufacturing in India
Reacting to the development, Minister of State for Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar said, “Congratulations to the Tata team for taking over Wistron operations. Thank you Wistron for your contributions, and great going for Apple in building a global supply chain from India with Indian companies at its helm.”
This comes at a time when Apple is eyeing India’s manufacturing prowess with interest, especially as they wish to shift production from China. Amidst the geopolitical troubles between the US and China, the Cupertino, California-based company announced its plans to shift 25 per cent global production to India.
At present, three Taiwanese firms – Wistron, Pegatron and Foxconn assemble Apple products in India. While Wistron announced its plans to leave India’s iPhone business as early as 2020, Foxconn and Pegatron have increased their production lines in India recently.
Tata has taken other steps to increase its business with Apple, such as increasing hiring at its plant in Hosur, Tamil Nadu, where iPhone components are manufactured.
Published on October 27, 2023
