Tata Plans New IPhone Assembly Plant In India

(RTTNews) - Indian conglomerate Tata Group is planning to construct a new assembly plant for Apple Inc.'s iPhones in India, Blommberg reported. The move is said to be inline with the tech major's strategy to expand its manufacturing activities beyond China, to India, which is one of its largest emerging market.

The new plant, deemed to be one of India's largest iPhone assembly plants, will be built in Hosur, located in the southern state of Tamil Nadu.

The facility is anticipated to accommodate around 20 assembly lines, and to employ around 50,000 workers within the next two years. The site is likely to be operational within 12-18 months.

Tata already has a facility in Hosur, where it manufactures iPhone enclosures.

Apple, has been eyeing to localise its supply chain and diversify operations away from China amid increased tensions between the US and China. With the latest move, the company aims to strengthen its collaboration with Tata, which already owns an iPhone factory in the nearby state of Karnataka that was acquired from Wistron Corp.

Apple has also engaged in partnerships in India, Thailand, Malaysia, and other locations.

Foxconn, Apple's key iPhone assembler and supplier with major operations in China, has been moving some manufacturing and supply chains out of China. It already started building multiple factory sites across India, including one in Telangana and another in Karnataka state.

Foxconn, which operates the world's biggest iPhone factory in the Zhengzhou city, called iPhone City, already manufactures iPhones at its Sriperumbudur factory on the outskirts of Chennai, India.

In the prior year, Apple assembled over $7 billion worth of iPhones in India, who's share in the device's production now stands at around 7%.

As per a recent report from the Wall Street Journal, Apple and its suppliers aim to manufacture over 50 million iPhones annually in India over the next two to three years. In the following periods, tens of millions of additional units will be produced.

While announcing its fourth-quarter results, Apple Chief Financial Officer Luca Maestri in October had stated that India reported very strong double-digit growth and a new all-time revenue record. The company is seeing very strong double-digit growth in places like India.

In India, Apple recently opened two stores with plans for three more. Meanwhile, Tata recently announced plans to launch 100 retail stores focused on Apple products.