Tata Group to manufacture iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus in India?

Tata Group is expected to manufacture iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus in India. The report of a new partnership between Apple and Tata Group comes even as Apple is trying to reduce its dependence on China.

According to media reports, the group has entered into a contract with Apple to manufacture the phones.

This is part of Apple's attempts to diversify its supply sources and the ongoing move to shift the manufacturing supply chain away from China. “Due to geopolitical and pandemic, Apple has been accelerating the diversification of its supply sources with India being the most well-known case for such transfer," a report by Taiwanese market intelligence provider TrendForce read.

If the reports are true, Tata will be Apple's fourth manufacturing partner in India after Wistron, Foxconn, and Pegatron. Recently, Tata completed the takeover of the iPhone manufacturing base of Wistron in India.

Apple reportedly zeroed in on Tata as it is one of the biggest conglomerates in the country.

It is not clear how many units of the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 will be manufactured by Tata in India, and according to TrendForce, the group received "only small orders" for the phones. “Following Apple’s pattern, new suppliers receive smaller orders for lower-end models,” the TrendForce report said.

Apple had recently opened its first physical retail outlets in Delhi and Mumbai. CEO Tim Cook had said India is an "incredibly exciting market" and a "major focus" for the company.

India is at a "tipping point", Cook had said during the Q2 earnings call of the company. "Looking at the business in India, we did set a quarterly record, grew very strong, double-digits year-over-year. So it was quite a good quarter for us, taking a step back, India is an incredibly exciting market," the Apple CEO had said.