Tata | iPhone Tata Group is in talks with a Taiwanese company to partner in product development, supply chain and assembly of iPhones in India, according to media reports.
According to a Bloomeberg report, Tata Group is in discussions with discussions with Wistron Corp.
If successful, the salt-to-steel conglomerate could be the first company to make Apple phones in India.
Currently, iPhones are mainly assembled by Taiwanese manufacturing giants like Wistron and Foxconn Technology Group in China and India.
Though the structure of the deal is yet to be finalised, the deal could entail Tata buying equity in Wistron’s India operations or the companies could build a new assembly plant, Bloomberg reported, citing a source.
The companies could include both the elements in the deal, the source added.
The report said that it wasn't immediately clear if Apple was aware of the developemnt.
As it is, the American tech giant is looking to diversify production away from China and deepen supply chain in India.
It noted that assembling iPhones is a complicated task requiring meeting the company's tight quality controls and deadlines.
The new venture is aimed at eventually multiplying the number of iPhones assembled by five times than what Wistron currently builds in India, said the report.
Tata Group Chairman Natarajan Chandrasekaran has said electronics and high-tech manufacturing are key focus areas for the company.
Wistron currently assembles iPhones at its plant in the state of Karnataka.
A pact with Tata could give Wistron a formidable local partner with deep pockets at a time when Taipei based company is struggling with losses.
Wistron began making iPhones in India five years ago in 2017.
It was a devlopment that came after Apple's years of efforts to add manufacturing capabilities in India.
India’s 1.4 billion-strong consumer market is big enough lure packed with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s financial incentives for tech production.
Both the factors have caused Apple’s other key contract manufacturers Foxconn and Pegatron Corp. to also expand in the country.
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