The Tata Group recently completed its acquisition of Wistron’s iPhone manufacturing facility, becoming the first Indian company to produce iPhones. Prior to this, Tata was already making some spare parts for Apple which includes the casing of iPhones at its Hosur facility in Tamil Nadu.
Reports suggest that the Tata Group is now looking to expand its Hosur plant and double its production capacity. Apple is said to have set high targets for Tata to manufacture iPhones in India, which will also be exported to global markets.
Tata Looking to Expand Hosur Plant
The Tata Group’s facility in Hosur is spread over 500 acres and employs around 15,000 people. This plant does the partial assembly of certain parts of iPhones before they are fully packed in boxes. These spares are then shipped to the much-advanced facilities of Foxconn and Wistron where the iPhone is made ready to ship.
The Economic Times reports that the Tata Group is now planning to expand this Hosur plant in the next 12-18 months. This will double the production capacity and will employ over 28,000 people. The company was recently exploring the nearby areas of this plant to plan its expansion.
While the Tata Group is expected to utilize this facility for Apple’s production orders, it is also possible that the company may also do contract manufacturing for other smartphone brands with this new expansion.
Furthermore, ET says that the Tata Group has received several targets from Apple to increase iPhone production in India. Apple has been trying to reduce its dependency on China for manufacturing and has entrusted India and Tata as its next major production hub.
Apple is India’s Largest Smartphone Exporter
While multiple smartphone companies like Xiaomi, Realme, and OnePlus have been manufacturing smartphones in India, most of these units are sold within the country and a very small of these batches are exported. In comparison, Apple and Samsung export a big chunk of devices made in India to overseas markets, even after fulfilling the local demand.
In the last quarter, Apple overtook Samsung to become the largest smartphone exporter in India. This means that the iPhones produced in India across Foxconn’s and Tata Group’s factories are now being sold in global markets in huge quantities.
India has exported iPhones worth $5 billion between April-October. This reflects a YoY growth of 177% when compared to exports from last year. It is clear that Apple is ambitious in growing its iPhone production in India to meet its global sales.
After Foxconn, the Tata Group is the first company entrusted by Apple to rapidly expand device production. As per Apple’s previous targets, the company aims to produce over 25% of the total iPhones in India by the year 2025. As of 2021, India contributes to 7% of total iPhone production by Apple.
