- Friday, June 06, 2025
As Apple looks beyond China for manufacturing, Tata has fast emerged as its key supplier and already assembles iPhones at three facilities in south India
By: India Weekly
TECH giant Apple has brought in Tata Group to handle repairs for iPhones and MacBook devices in India, the world’s second-biggest smartphone market, two people familiar with the matter said.
The move signals the Indian salt-to-software conglomerate’s deepening role in Apple’s supply chain.
As Apple looks beyond China for manufacturing, Tata has fast emerged as its key supplier and already assembles iPhones for local and foreign markets at three facilities in south India.
In its latest partnership expansion, Tata is taking over the mandate from an Indian unit of Taiwan’s Wistron, ICT Service Management Solutions, and will carry out such after-sales repairs from its Karnataka iPhone assembly campus, sources added.
The market for repairs is only going to boom in India, as iPhone sales skyrocket.
Counterpoint Research estimates around 11 million iPhones were sold in India last year, giving Apple a 7 per cent market share, compared to just 1 per cent in 2020.
The latest contract award signals Apple’s growing confidence on Tata as it hopes to win more business from the world’s most valuable smartphone company.
“Tata’s deepening partnership with Apple could also pave the groundwork for Apple directly selling refurbished devices in India, like how it does in the United States currently,” said Prabhu Ram, a vice president at Cybermedia Research.
The takeover from ICT by Tata is currently ongoing, both sources said, who declined to be named as they were not authorized to speak on the matter.
Apple and Wistron did not respond to requests for comment, while a spokesperson for Tata declined to comment.
While Apple’s official service centres across India can do basic repairs, they would now ship phones and laptops to Tata’s facility for more complex issues.
Wistron’s ICT however will continue to service other clients excluding Apple, one of the sources said.
Amid an impending threat of U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs on China, India is also emerging as a favoured destination for iPhone exports.
Apple CEO Tim Cook has said the bulk of iPhones sold in the United States during June quarter will be made at factories in India.
Earlier, key iPhone maker Foxconn had announced it making a $1.5 billion investment push in India.
The Taiwanese tech giant is making this move to focus on India as Apple looks to mitigate geopolitical and tariff risks by shifting production away from China.
Foxconn said its Singapore-based subsidiary had picked up 12.7 billion shares in its India unit, resulting in an injection of about $1.5 billion. (Reuters)
