iPhone 12: Delay in 'Made in India' iPhone 12 due to Wistron factory incident

Karnataka: Apple's startup plan to produce the latest iPhone 12 in India might get delayed due to the violence that broke out at Apple's contract manufacturer Wistron's facility in Kolar, Karnataka.

The controversy-hit Wistron facility in Karnatka was all set to manufacture the Cupertino California-based tech giant's latest offering in January-February, which may get delayed now.

There was immediate production shift to Wistron's other facility in India or that to Apple's other component supplier, Foxconn, was not possible until Apple completes an independent audit in the matter, said analysts from Wistron.

Following the investigation, if Apple will decide to blacklist the violence-hit Wistron facility in India, on the lines of a similar incident at a Pegatron facility in China, said the research analyst ad partner Counterpoint Research, Neil Shah.

Apple's newest supplier in India, Pegatron, will at least take a year to begin operations while it remains to be acknowledged if Foxconn steps in with increased production of iPhone 12, Shah added.

The Wistron company had made payments to the labour contractors who delayed the payments to the employees and this resulted in the violence at the factory.

Karnataka Labour Minister, Shivaram Hebbar had said that the labour department had issued notices to Wistron, asking the firm to make the payment due in three days.

Responding to the violence at the Wistron factory in Narasapura, the Bangalore Chamber of Industry and Commerce (BCIC) said it is disheartening that people take law in their hands instead of going through the well-laid dispute resolution mechanism available under the law.

BCIC president, TR Parasuraman had said that while the investment climate in Karnataka is improving due to several positive and progressive measures taken by the government, these kinds of issues will only cause mistrust among the investor's confidence and will affect employment opportunities.

"It is very important for all the stakeholders to seriously introspect from these incidents and take quick and appropriate countermeasures so that these incidents never happen in the future," the BCIC president added.

According to the government's statement, the dispute between Wistron and the contract labourers has been going on for three months. Minister Hebbar said that Wistron had contracted six subsidiary companies to hire 8,900 people for its Kolar unit.

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