India to get first homegrown iPhone maker as Tata Group nears plant takeover: Report

Bloomberg reported citing people aware of the matter that the deal, which Tata and Winstron had been discussing for months, could be completed by the end of March.

Earlier, in September 2022, Bloomberg had reported that Tata Group was in talks with the Taiwanese company to partner in product development, supply chain and assembly of iPhones in India.

The deal could entail Tata buying equity in Wistron’s India operations or the companies could build a new assembly plant, according to the earlier report. Or, the companies could include both the elements in the deal, the report had added.

Now, the discussions are focusing on a joint venture with Tata taking a majority of it, the Bloomberg report published on Tuesday said.

As per the report, the sources said that Tata will oversee the main manufacturing operation with support from Winstron.

Currently, iPhones are mainly assembled by Taiwanese manufacturing giants like Wistron and Foxconn Technology Group in China and India.

The Tata Group is looking to finish a due diligence process by March 31 in order to take over Wistron’s place in Centre’s PLI scheme that offers it government incentives, the report said.

This also makes sense as the next cycle of incentives will begin from April 1, when India’s financial year begins.

Wistron’s factory spread across 2.2 million square-foot is situated little over 30 miles (50 kilometers) east of Bangalore.

If the takeover succeeds, Tata will get Wistron’s all its eight iPhone lines, as well as the plant’s 10,000 workers, including a couple of thousand engineers. Wistron would continue as a service partner for iPhones in India, according to Bloomberg's latest report.

Tata produces iPhone components at its unit in Hosur, near Bangalore. The report said that Tata has started to hire more workers here.

Owing to the size of the factory, Tata could add iPhone manufacturing lines in the coming years, the report noted.

Meanwhile, Tata has also announced that it will launch 100 Apple stores in the country of 1.4 billion, the first of which is set to open in Mumbai this quarter, added the report.