How Apple helped Tata Electronics hit nine-times revenue jump post this key acquisition

Tata Electronics has reported a ninefold jump in sales for the year ended in March 2024, crossing the Rs 3,800 crore core revenue threshold with a hefty profit. The revenue is up from Rs 401 crore in FY 23, ET reported citing the company’s filings with the Registrar of Companies (RoC) last week. 

This dramatic increase in the profit is largely attributed to Tata Electronics acquiring the iPhone unit of Taiwanese company Wistron in Bengaluru for $125 million in November last year, enabling the company to become a part of Apple‘s global supply chain and rebranding the Wistron Infocomm Manufacturing India as Tata Electronics Systems Solutions.

However, despite the massive spike in the revenue, Tata Electronics has reported a net loss of Rs 825 crore in FY24, an increase of 50 per cent from the previous year. The company has attributed this loss to the wider net loss to high depreciation and interest costs.

Moving ahead, Tata Electronics is looking for further expansion and is in discussion with Pegatron, Apple's contract manufacturer, to acquire a majority stake in its India factory. The deal was likely to be closed after the general election in July-August but there has been no word on it.  

The Indian consumer goods conglomerate is also building another plant in Hosur in Tamil Nadu, with Pegatron likely to emerge as its joint venture partner. 

Meanwhile, Apple Inc has assembled $14 billion worth of iPhones in India in fiscal 2024, according to a report in Bloomberg News.  

Apple now makes as much as 14 per cent or about 1 in 7 of its marquee devices from India. Apple is increasingly looking to diversify its supply chain beyond China amid geopolitical tensions between Beijing and Washington, even as China remains the largest iPhone-making hub in the world. 

(With inputs from agencies)