Tata in talks to buy Apple vendor Wistron’s India unit: Report

The Tata Group is in talks with Wistron Corp, one of Apple’s top three manufacturers in India, to buy its Karnataka facility in a deal that may be worth Rs 4,000-5,000 cr, sources told The Economic Times.

The conglomerate aims to push the manufacturing capacity of group company Tata Electronics Pvt Ltd (TEPL) with this move. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tata Sons.

The salt-to-software behemoth established TEPL to lead mobile phone and component manufacturing when geopolitical tension between the West and China made India an attractive alternative destination for tech companies like Apple.

TEPL is currently a components vendor for Apple iPhones as part of the Make in India push of the Narendra Modi government, but the company has eyes on other electronic manufacturers from Japan and Korea to set up a “larger electronics ecosystem”, the report said.

The Tata group was exploring a joint venture with Wistron earlier, but it is now more inclined to buy the Narasapura facility in Karnataka’s Kolar. Sources told ET, however, that if the deal doesn’t work out, Tata may pursue the JV option.

DH could not independently verify the report.

“Tatas will run the show, but Wistron may keep a small share to leverage on the global vendor ecosystem of Apple,” another source told the publication.

In India, Foxconn, Pegatron and Wistron are the top three vendors for Apple and they produce the iPhone SE, iPhone 12, iPhone 13 and the basic iPhone 14 models.