Tata Poised to Become First Indian iPhone Manufacturer in India as It Acquires Winston Unit

iPhones will soon be produced in India by an Indian company, as Tata has purchased the Wistron unit to become the inaugural Indian iPhone manufacturer. Wistron, the Taiwan-based contract manufacturer for Apple, has decided to divest a 100 percent stake in the Wistron InfoComm Manufacturing (India) unit to Tata Electronics for a deal price of $125 million (nearly Rs. 1,040 crores). With the new acquisition, Tata will establish itself as the first-ever iPhone manufacturer in India. Both companies reached this decision after Wistron sanctioned the deal following its board meeting on October 27.

Rajeev Chandrashekhar, the Union Minister of State for Electronics and Technology, has also confirmed the development with his post on X. Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s PLI scheme, Tata Group will commence iPhone production in India within the next two and a half years. These Apple devices will be available for purchase in both domestic and international markets.

He also shared a press release along with his post, which stated that Wistron has “granted approval to its subsidiaries, SMS InfoComm (Singapore) and Wistron Hong Kong Limited, to sign the share purchase agreement with Tata Electronics Private Limited (TEPL).” Once both parties sign the relevant agreements, the deal will progress to the next stage of obtaining further approvals.

Tata has been engaged in discussions regarding the acquisition of the Wistron unit for some time now. In July, reports indicated that the conglomerate was nearing the acquisition of Wistron by August. However, there has been a slight delay in the plan. According to the report, Tata will engage in iPhone assembly in India at the Wistron unit, which currently operates an iPhone assembly plant near Bengaluru.

The company has also previously announced its intention to establish 100 stores across the country exclusively selling Apple products. In addition to the recent acquisition, Apple iPhones are assembled in India by two global suppliers – Foxconn and Pegatron — in Tamil Nadu. In fact, this year, ‘assembled in India’ iPhone 15 models were sold in India on the launch day for the first time.