The Tatas are reportedly in discussions with Wistron Corp to acquire a majority stake in the Taiwan company’s Bangalore plant that manufactures Apple iPhones.
The talks between the two have been going on for months, and a deal appears likely by March, Bloomberg said.
Both the parties are exploring tie-ups in a number of areas, but the discussions are focussed on the Tatas taking a majority stake in the Bangalore plant that will make the conglomerate the first Indian entity to make iPhones in the country.
Wistron’s 2.2 million square feet factory is located around 50 km east of Bangalore. If the acquisition goes through, the Tata group will take over all the eight iPhone lines as well as the plant’s 10,000 workers, including 1,000 engineers.
Wistron — which plans to stop making iPhones in India — will continue as a service partner for iPhones in India.
The Tatas also have a plant near Bangalore where they makes iPhone components.
There are reports the Tatas will become an Apple franchisee by opening 100 exclusive stores in the country.
Apart from Wistron, Foxconn and Pegatron manufactures Apple phones in India.
Earlier, an Economic Times report had said the Tatas will acquire the Bangalore facility for a sum not more than Rs 5,000 crore.
JP Morgan had said last year that Apple may make one out of four iPhones in India by 2025 as the tech giant shifts some production away from China because of the Covid-19 lockdowns in that country.
The brokerage projected Apple to shift close to 5 per cent of iPhone 14 production to India by the end of 2022, and a quarter of all Apple products will be manufactured outside China that includes India.
Android ruling
The National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) on Tuesday directed the listing of petitions of local handset makers Micromax and Karbonn, challenging the Competition Commission of India (CCI) order against Google over Android mobile devices, on January 12, reports PTI.
The appellate tribunal would decide “for admission” of their petitions in which both have challenged the order of CCI, in which the fair trade regulator has imposed a penalty on the global IT giant.
