Apple May Need To Turn To China After Plant Fire In India's Tata

Extensive damage from a fire at Tata Group's Apple iPhone component plant in southern India could hamper production ahead of a festive season sales surge, according to an industry watcher and a source.

The recent blaze caused an indefinite production halt at Tata's Hosur plant in Tamil Nadu, the only Indian supplier of iPhone back panels and other parts. I Photo: Apple

This may force the U.S. firm's suppliers to arrange critical parts from China or elsewhere, Munsif Vengattil reported for Reuters.

The recent blaze caused an indefinite production halt at Tata's Hosur plant in Tamil Nadu, the only Indian supplier of iPhone back panels and other parts for both contract manufacturer Foxconn and its own iPhone assembly at another plant in the country.

Hong Kong-based Counterpoint Research told Reuters it estimates local sales of 1.5 million units of iPhone 14 and 15 models during the Indian festive season, which runs from late October to early November.

Apple is struggling to fulfill up to 15% of that demand due to the fire.

"There will be a 10-15% impact on the production of older iPhone models from India. Apple could offset that impact by importing more components and by re-routing more export inventory towards India," said Neil Shah, a co-founder of Counterpoint, which has tracked Apple's global shipments for years.

Apart from local sales, Tata, one of India's biggest conglomerates, also exported iPhones to the Netherlands and the U.S., as well as some parts to China, worth more than $250 million overall in the year to Aug. 31, commercially available customs data shows.