Apple production partner Wistron is investing more money in iPhone manufacturing facilities for the Indian market. The additional spending is being made to expand the plant that assembles iPhones for the Indian market.
A filing at the Taiwan Stock Exchange reveals Wistron has authorized its subsidiary in India to spend 30 billion rupees ($340.62 million), in order to expand and meet future demand for its services in the region. Currently the company has a paid-up capital of 1.8 billion rupees for its Indian operations, making the investment a considerable increase in resources.
The company says it is investing the additional funds to ramp up the production capacity of its Narasapura plant, where it assembles the iPhone SE and iPhone 6s for the local market. The investment is likely intended to help Apple avoid penalties imposed upon it by various Indian laws.
For the Indian market, Apple still relies on imports to make up the bulk of purchases in the country not already covered by Wistron’s supply. Apple is likely to be hit by a proposed luxury goods tax, one that is designed to discourage imported goods, and one that could be mitigated by increasing production in the region.
The production capacity expansion could also be related to the ongoing trade dispute between the U.S. and China, which could cause the price of the iPhone to rise by as much as 10%. Apple could shift the production of some of its other products outside of China if tariffs rise.
However, Wistron might not be investing all of the new money into iPhone production, as the company is also reported to be planning to move some of its PC, Internet of Things, medical, and cloud services operations to India.
