IndiGlobal Bureau
Taking advantage of the present geo-political situation in Asia and the backlash and general negativity against China, Tata Electronics Pvt Ltd (TEPL) headed by group chairman N Chandrasekaran is looking to buy Tata Group has begun talks with Taipei’s Wistron Corp, one of the top three Apple vendors in India, to buy its sole manufacturing facility in Karnataka for Rs 4,000-5,000 crore.
The Tata Group has begun talks with Taipei’s Wistron Corp. The transaction, if successful, will help the conglomerate ramp up the manufacturing capabilities of Tata Electronics Pvt Ltd (TEPL) in precision engineering.
TEPL is a wholly owned subsidiary of Tata Sons. It was set up to lead the group’s ambitions to become a mobile phone and component contract manufacturer at scale. The idea is to woo smartphone companies like Apple to India.
The Tatas have been toying with the idea of setting up an electronics manufacturing joint venture with Wistron, Bloomberg reported in early September. Tata is keen on buying the Narasapura in Karnataka’s Kolar district. Tata Electronics’ facility is in Hosur, Tamil Nadu.
Apple vendors in India: Foxconn, Pegatron and Wistron are the three leading vendors for Apple in India. Luxshare, a Chinese company, was also supposed to set up shop in India, but its plans have not yet been cleared by the union government.
According to a report by JP Morgan, Apple plans to shift 25% of its iPhone production to India by 2025 to diversify its manufacturing base, which is dependent heavily on China. According to the report, 5% of global iPhone 14 production will be in India by the end of 2022.
TPEL is already a components vendor for Apple’s iPhones and plans to deal with other large manufacturers from Korea and Japan.