Tata To Make iPhones For Global Markets In India, Acquires Wistron's India Operations

Tata Group will start making Apple iPhones in India to be exported to global markets across the world within a span of two and a half years.

Rajeev Chandrasekhar, India’s Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology, lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s PLI scheme and said, “within just two and a half years, Tata Companies will now start making iPhones from India for domestic and global markets.”

“Congratulations to the Tata team for taking over Wistron operations,” he added.

In addition, Chandrasekhar assured that the Indian government stands “fully in support of the growth of Global Indian Electronics companies that will, in turn, support global Electronic brands that want to make India their trusted manufacturing and talent partner, and to realize PM’s goal of making India a global electronics power.”

Notably, the news of Tata acquiring Wistron’s operations in India first broke last year.   And lines up with Apple’s goal of moving about 18 per cent of its global iPhone production to India by 2025.

Bloomberg, in July, had also reported that this move would add momentum to Apple’s efforts to diversify its product base beyond China and build up technology manufacturing in India, as tensions between Washington, D.C., and Beijing rise.

On that note, ‘Assembled in India’ iPhones with 15 models were available in India right at launch last September. These models, made by Foxconn at its Tamil Nadu facility, are being exported to various regions across the globe.

Apple has also been focusing a lot more on the Indian market, and now, there are two official Apple stores in the country as well—Apple BKC in Mumbai and Apple Saket in New Delhi.

Apple CEO Tim Cook also had significant things to say about the Indian market. “India is an incredibly exciting market. It’s a major focus for us. I was just there, and the dynamism in the market, the vibrancy is unbelievable,” Cook said in May.