Alongside the assembly of iPhones from other suppliers’ components, Wistron will also assemble printed circuit boards for the devices.
iPhone 8 Plus (left) versus iPhone XR (right)
Following the recent announcement of its third manufacturing plant in India, Wistron is now expected to assemble iPhone printed circuit boards (PCBs) as well as finished phones.
According to Reuters, two sources have confirmed that Wistron will be assembling PCBs itself locally. The PCB is the board that houses processors, RAM and other components that are essential to iPhones.
It’s a major change for Wistron as, reports Reuters, a fully-assembled PCB represents approximately half the cost of an iPhone. The move also represents a significant increase in Apple’s plans to manufacture devices in the region.
Neither Wistron nor Apple have commented on the assembly of PCBs. In that recent announcement of the new plant, however, Wistron’s chairman Simon Lin thanked local construction teams for building the plant quickly. He also said that the company would employ locals in “top to mid-tier management” roles at the plant in Narasapura, north west of Bengaluru.
Wistron has been assembling the iPhone SE in Bengaluru since 2017, and more recently also the iPhone 6S and iPhone 7.
The new plant is expected to concentrate on iPhone 7 and iPhone 8 models, and be capable of producing up to 8 million smartphones per year.