Wistron sells its iPhone assembly plant in India

Wistron exits Apple India operations

A May 2 report had suggested that Wistron was phasing out a majority of its operations in India and would withdraw a significant portion of its presence from the country over the next year. According to India, the move is now official Economic times who talked to business leaders.

Wistron is considering an exit strategy due to a lack of long-term profitability by operating solely as an assembly supplier for the iPhone. Instead, the company plans to focus on its core IT manufacturing business in countries such as Vietnam and Mexico.

“Wistron has not been able to monetize Apple’s business in India,” said one executive. “It tried to negotiate higher margins with Apple, but being a smaller player compared to Foxconn and Pegatron globally, it didn’t have the leverage it needed.”

Despite Wistron’s role in assembling the iPhone SE and other models for Apple in India, the company faced challenges in achieving profitability. Unlike larger suppliers like Foxconn and Pegatron, who handle inventory management for Apple in the country, Wistron couldn’t establish itself in that particular aspect of the business.

“There must be systems in place to measure demand and send it to different units, which Wistron didn’t have,” said another director. “Plus, it’s a much smaller player compared to Foxconn and Pegatron.”

Some Wistron employees also said the company had had problems retaining workers at its Kolar, India plant.

“There were a lot of management problems. China and India work in different ways, and they didn’t understand that,” said one employee. “The mentality of Indian workers is different, but they don’t pay attention to it, which leads to high turnover.”

Currently, Wistron is selling its iPhone assembly facility in Kolar, near Bengaluru, to the Tata Group. The Tata Group is currently conducting trials to assemble future iPhone 15 models in India.

Wistron established its presence in India in 2008 by opening a repair facility that serviced various devices it manufactured, including PCs, laptops and servers. In 2017, the company expanded its business and started manufacturing iPhones for Apple.