Apple leaning heavier on Tata, with iPhone repair shift from Wistron

Tata's take-over of India iPhone and MacBook repair demonstrates Apple's increasing reliance on the native company, over internationals like Wistron and Foxconn.

India is an important and growing market for Apple, with it becoming more prominent on both the manufacturing and retail fronts for the company. It now seems that, with greater expectations for the country, Apple is bulking up its services to match.

According to two sources of Reuters, Apple has started to work with Tata Group on iPhone and MacBook repairs for products sold in the country. The move will see Tata take over from Wistron's subsidiary ICT Service Management Solutions, in repairing Apple hardware for consumers.

The handover from ICT to Tata is still in progress, the sources claim. Once concluded, Tata will be performing repairs in Karnataka, its iPhone assembly campus.

Apple also operates service centers across India, but they handle basic repairs. Items with more complex issues are handed over to its repair partner for diagnosis and repairs.

More Tata in India

Tata is a giant conglomerate in India, and already works with Apple in a number of areas. The main relationship is in manufacturing, as Tata has multiple facilities in the country, alongside the Karnataka assembly lines.

The Karnataka facility was an acquisition from Wistron, which was preparing to withdraw from local iPhone production in the country before Tata stepped in to take over in October 2023.

In November 2024, Tata was reportedly preparing to buy a 60% stake in Pegatron's India iPhone facility, expanding its iPhone-related factory count to three. In April, it was reported that Tata had opened a new iPhone factory in Hosur.

Tata also has a hand in retail, with it involved in the network of franchise-owned stores selling iPhones across the country.

More contracts, more influence

For an organization as large as Tata Group, it wants to be as involved across a supply chain as possible. Depending on its future plans with Apple, the latest report appears to be another stepping stone to being one of the biggest cogs in the iPhone production machine.

By taking over from Wistron in manufacturing and now servicing, Tata has a much bigger grip on the Indian iPhone and MacBook operations than before. Along with retail and manufacturing, it now has a full view of the entire iPhone production, sales, and servicing process, which can help it inform future business decisions.

With more knowledge of the local area than Foxconn and a hearty appetite to take on more work from Apple, there's the possibility of Tata eventually becoming one of Apple's closest allies in the emerging and valuable market.

It may not necessarily be able to monopolize iPhone production in India just yet, but it's certainly making moves that point in that direction.