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Wistron, Apple’s assembly partner for the iPhone SE, is reportedly preparing to wind down most of its operations in India over the next year. The Taiwanese firm has been working in India for over 15 years but is said to be moving out instead of continuing to build out business like Foxconn.
According to sources cited by Hindu BusinessLine, Wistron will be mostly withdrawing from India and will probably approach the National Company Law Tribunal and the Registrar of Companies to dissolve its operations within a year. The move has already seemingly started, with Tata Electronics seeking to take control of Wistron’s Karnataka iPhone production facility, which is also Wistron’s main operation in India.
Wistron’s factory became a problem in December 2020, after employees rioted over allegations of shorted pay. The incident led to Apple putting Wistron on probation. Sources claim that once the takeover of the iPhone arm is complete, Wistron will start the process of winding down. It is also said that Wistron will wait for more subsidy payments from the Mobile PLI scheme set up by the government to encourage production before shutting down.
While Wistron employs over 12,000 people in India, not all will lose their jobs over time. The majority of Wistron’s employees work under the iPhone unit that Tata is in the process of acquiring. Wistron’s other interests in the country include firms in the Internet of Things market, as well as attempts to attract more notebook production and work in the electric vehicle space. However, it now seems that these won’t necessarily come to fruition, at least not in India.
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There will still be some elements of Wistron active in India despite the winding-down situation. Sources say the only operations that will probably still exist in India will be its services business, set up to repair and maintain Apple products.
Wistron’s decision to wind down operations in India is a significant move in the country’s manufacturing industry. India is keen to encourage foreign investment in its manufacturing sector and has been offering subsidies and incentives to attract firms. Wistron’s withdrawal could be seen as a setback for the government’s efforts to build a strong manufacturing base in the country.