2024-08-19 19:14:31
New Delhi: Apple is set to open its fourth iPhone plant in India by the end of this year. According to a report in Business Standard, Apple’s main contract manufacturer Tata Electronics is set to start production in November. Tata Electronics will use the factory in Hosur, Tamil Nadu as its second iPhone assembly plant after acquiring a unit of Taiwanese EMS company Wistron. “Preparations are in full swing to launch iPhones from this 250-acre plant, where Tata already has a component factory set up three years ago,” the report said, quoting people familiar with the matter. Tata Electronics will invest Rs 6,000 crore in this plant. It is expected that 50% of the employees working in this factory will be women.
The new plant will strengthen the supply chain
According to reports, this new plant will help Apple localize its supply chain and strengthen its partnership with Tata. Apple is expanding its operations beyond China, working with assembly and component manufacturing partners in India, Thailand, Malaysia and other countries.
Apple iPhone production started in India in 2017
Apple’s iPhone production in India began in 2017. The device’s manufacturer, Foxconn, started making the iPhone SE in Sriperumbudur near Chennai. In the following years, new iPhone models were ‘Made in India’. They were also exported by Apple’s three contract partners Foxconn, Wistron and Pegatron. In October last year, the Tata Group finally bought the Wistron factory for $125 million.
Since then, the Cupertino giant has been reducing its dependence on China by expanding its ecosystem through the development of a local vendor network.