Apple supplier Wistron said to assemble key iPhone component in new India plant
- Wistron’s second iPhone plant in Bangalore is expected to become operational by April
- Bigger rival Foxconn already assembles printed circuit boards in India for its locally made iPhone XR model
Taiwan’s Wistron Corp plans to assemble printed circuit boards (PCBs) for iPhones at its new plant in southern India, two sources said, highlighting Apple’s push to expand manufacturing in the world’s second largest smartphone market.
The local assembly of PCBs by Wistron’s India unit will be a first for the electronics contract manufacturer, which began making Apple’s low-priced iPhone SE model in the southern technology hub of Bangalore in 2017. It currently assembles the iPhone 6S and 7 models there as well.
A PCB is a bed for key components such as processors, memory and wireless chip sets that are the heart of an electronic device. Once assembled, or populated with components, PCBs account for about half the cost of a smartphone.
Wistron’s second iPhone plant, some 65 kilometres (40 miles) from Bangalore, is expected to become operational by April, the sources said, adding that it will make iPhone 7 and 8 models, some of which will be exported.
The facility in India will be capable of producing up to eight million smartphones annually, the sources said.
The plan is part of Wistron’s 30 billion rupee (US$422.1 million) investment proposal submitted to the Karnataka state government in 2018.