India’s giant Tata Group wants to make iPhones in India

I’m old enough to remember when people mocked Apple CEO Tim Cook for making moves to build business in India. As the nation of 1.4 billion consumers overtakes the UK as a giant economy and political upheaval continues, Cook’s decision seems better and better. Now one of India’s biggest corporations is taking steps to make iPhone in India.

Tata Group in talks with Wistron

Tata Group is a giant conglomerate in India.

It’s involved in everything, salt, steel, software and much more in between. The company is now in talks with Taiwan-based Apple manufacturer, Wistron, with a view to breaking into the iPhone manufacturing chain. That’s as reports emerge claiming Apple intends making around 15% of iPhones in India this year – and this is only going to rise.

A report in Indian Express tells us Tata seeks an India joint venture with Wistron.

What Tata wants

It seeks to exploit Wistron’s knowledge around product development, supply chain and assembly in the technology industry, specifically around Apple. We don’t know if those talks will succeed, of course, but if they do it will make Tata the first Indian company to build iPhones. Why does that matter? Well, it matters to India as it would give the nation legitimacy as a manufacturing base and may encourage additional brands to consider assembly there.

The report speculates Tata may enter a join venture with Wistron in terms of co-investment in a new assembly plant, or that it may take out a position in the company’s operations in India. The report also tells us Tata, Apple and Wistron have not responded to requests for comment. It may or may not be relevant to point once again to the extent of Tata Group’s interests, as these include raw materials, steel, and cars, including electric vehicles.

The genius of Tim Cook

India is a rapidly growing market for Apple. The company has invested years of effort in boosting its presence in the market in which some claim it sold over 1 million iPhones in Q2, doubling its market there in a year.  Apple engaged in a multi-year attempt to build its business in the nation, and this now extends to manufacturing some devices there.  It also offers retail stores, an online store and has one of its main Apple Maps development bases there.

As a footnote, we know that Apple broke iPhone, iPad and Mac sales records in India in 2021. We also know that Apple is generating the highest customer satisfaction ratings among India’s smartphone users.

Please follow me on Twitter, or join me in the AppleHolic’s bar & grill and Apple Discussions groups on MeWe.