Tata Set to Become First Indian iPhone Maker as It Acquires Winston Unit

iPhones will soon be made in India by an Indian company, as Tata has acquired the Wistron unit to become the first Indian iPhone maker. Wistron, the Taiwan-based contract manufacturer for Apple, has decided to sell 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 takeover, Tata will set itself as the first-ever iPhone maker in India. Both companies reached this decision after Wistron approved the deal post 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 begin making iPhones in India within the next two and a half years. These Apple devices will be up for sale in both domestic as well as global markets. 

He also shared a press release along with his post, which mentioned 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 move towards the next step of clearing further approvals. 

Tata has been in talks over the takeover of the Wistron unit for some time now. In July, it was reported that the conglomerate was close to acquiring Wistron by August. However, there has been a delay of a few months in the plan. As per the report, Tata will engage in the assembling of iPhones in India at the Wistron unit that currently operates an iPhone assembly plant near Bengaluru. 

The company has also been previously reported to be planning to open 100 stores across the country that will only sell Apple products. Apart from the recent takeover, Apple iPhones are assembled in India by two global suppliers – Foxconn and Pegatron — in Tamil Nadu. In fact, this year, India started selling 'assembled in India' iPhone 15 models on launch day for the first time.