India's Tata in Talks to Become iPhone Assembler as Apple Looks Away From China - Reports
© AP Photo / Jeff Chiu
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Apple has been assembling iPhones in India for five years. In 2022, the company almost doubled its production there, with three contracts to produce around 11-12 million iPhones, up from 7.5 million in 2021. The recent developments are apparently prompted by geopolitical tensions and pandemic-induced supply chain disruptions.
Tata Group is in talks with a Taiwanese supplier to Apple Inc. to establish a joint venture for iPhone manufacturing in India, Bloomberg reported on Friday.
If the news is confirmed, Tata will become the first domestic Indian company to assemble iPhones.
Apple launched production in India in 2017, and currently Taiwanese companies such as Wistron and Foxconn Technology Group are the main assemblers.
India has long been trying to challenge China in electronics manufacturing, and a local company could be a huge boost in that effort. This is especially the case as Beijing has to deal with renewed COVID-19 lockdowns and rising geopolitical tensions with the US, which has no qualms about putting pressure on brands over purely political issues.
The deal could see India begin to manufacture iPhones simultaneously with China by next year, thereby reducing the current two month gap between the countries.
[Update] The iPhone 14's mass production schedule in India this year is still about six weeks behind China, but the gap has improved significantly. Therefore, it is reasonable to expect that India and China will be able to produce the new iPhone 15 at the same time next year. https://t.co/4hQFoMm9Eq
— 郭明錤 (Ming-Chi Kuo) (@mingchikuo) September 1, 2022
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's financial incentives to make technology in India, combined with its market of 1.4 billion people, have also prompted key Apple contract manufacturers Foxconn and Wistron to expand in the country. However, the workforce in India is having a hard time adapting, as iPhone assembly is a complex task requiring company quality standards, while there has also been widespread dissatisfaction with working conditions.
In the past, Apple has even had to suspend new orders from Wistron's India sites after "lapses" in labor practices led to unrest.
