Apple Supplier Wistron 'Working Hard' to Raise Standards at Violence-Hit India Factory [Updated]

Apple supplier Wistron said it plans to restart operations at its iPhone manufacturing facility in India, where workers caused widespread damage late last year over claims of unpaid wages.

iphone 6s india wistron
In a statement given to Reuters, the Taiwanese company said it was working hard to raise standards and fix issues at the plant in Karnataka's Kolar district.

"We are looking forward to restarting our operations and welcoming back team members and we thank them for their patience and support as we worked through corrective actions,” Wistron said.

In December 2020, disgruntled staff went on a rampage at the plant, upturning cars and destroying equipment and furniture.

Wistron initially claimed that the incident was caused by people of unknown identities from outside who intruded into and damaged its facility with unclear intentions.

However, local media reported that many of the 2,000 employees were involved in the violence, with many claiming that they had not been fully paid for four months and were being forced to do extra shifts.

Following the unrest, Apple placed Wistron on probation while it conducted an audit, which found that the plant showed violations of its "Supplier Code of Conduct."

According to Apple, Wistron had failed to implement proper working hour management processes, which "led to payment delays for some workers in October and November."

The plant was set to hire up to 20,000 more workers to manufacture more iPhone SE devices, but the plan was put on ice and Apple said it would not award Wistron any new business until it addressed how its workers are treated.

The Apple probation has delayed the tech company's manufacturing push into India, where it has pledged to invest $1 billion dollars as it seeks to diversify its global supply chains.

Update: Regarding the restarting of operations at the Wistron plant, Apple has released the following statement (via Reuters):

"For the past eight weeks, teams across Apple, along with independent auditors, have been working with Wistron to make sure the necessary systems and processes are in place at their Narasapura facility," Apple said in a statement.

"Wistron remains on probation and we will monitor their progress closely."

Note: Due to the political or social nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Political News forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Tags: India, Wistron

Popular Stories

iPhone 17 Pro in Hand Feature Lowgo

iPhone 17 Pro Coming Soon With These 14 New Features

Friday July 4, 2025 1:05 pm PDT by
Apple's next-generation iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are just over two months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models. Latest Rumors These rumors surfaced in June and July:Apple logo repositioned: Apple's logo may have a lower position on the back of the iPhone 17 Pro models, compared to previous...
Apple Watch Ultra Night Mode Screen

Apple Watch Ultra 3 Launching Later This Year With Two Key Upgrades

Wednesday July 2, 2025 1:13 pm PDT by
The long wait for an Apple Watch Ultra 3 appears to be nearly over, and it is rumored to feature both satellite connectivity and 5G support. Apple Watch Ultra's existing Night Mode In his latest Power On newsletter, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said that the Apple Watch Ultra 3 is on track to launch this year with "significant" new features, including satellite connectivity, which would let you...
iPhone 17 Pro in Hand Feature Lowgo

iPhone 17 Pro Max Battery Capacity Leaked

Thursday July 3, 2025 5:40 am PDT by
The iPhone 17 Pro Max will feature the biggest ever battery in an iPhone, according to the Weibo leaker known as "Instant Digital." In a new post, the leaker listed the battery capacities of the iPhone 11 Pro Max through to the iPhone 16 Pro Max, and added that the iPhone 17 Pro Max will feature a battery capacity of 5,000mAh: iPhone 11 Pro Max: 3,969mAh iPhone 12 Pro Max: 3,687mAh...
airpods pro 2

AirPods Pro 3 to Help Maintain Apple's Place in Earbud Market Amid Increasing Low-Cost Competition

Thursday July 3, 2025 7:25 am PDT by
Apple's position as the dominant force in the global true wireless stereo (TWS) earbud market is expected to continue through 2025, according to Counterpoint Research. The forecast outlines a 3% year-over-year increase in global TWS unit shipments for 2025, signaling a transition from rapid growth to a more mature phase for the category. While Apple is set to remain the leading brand by...
iphone 16 pro models 1

Here's How the iPhone 17 Pro Max Will Compare to the iPhone 17 Pro

Saturday July 5, 2025 1:00 pm PDT by
Apple should unveil the iPhone 17 series in September, and there might be one bigger difference between the Pro and Pro Max models this year. As always, the Pro Max model will be larger than the Pro model:iPhone 17 Pro: 6.3-inch display iPhone 17 Pro Max: 6.9-inch displayGiven the Pro Max is physically larger than the Pro, it has more internal space, allowing for a larger battery and...
apple silicon mac lineup 2024 feature purple m5

Apple's Upcoming Macs Listed in New Report

Thursday July 3, 2025 9:09 am PDT by
AppleInsider's Marko Zivkovic today shared a list of alleged identifiers for future Mac models, which should roll out over the next year or so. The report does not reveal anything too surprising, but it does serve as further evidence that Apple is seemingly working on new models of every Mac, including the MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, iMac, Mac mini, Mac Studio, and Mac Pro. Apple is...

Top Rated Comments

gnasher729 Avatar
58 months ago
So someone decided not to pay workers, either out of greed or out of incompetence, or likely incompetence caused by greed. No wonder people get upset when that happens.

We don’t know if Wistron paid its subcontractor for the work these employees did or not, but they are not going to get more work until they have sorted this out. Worker rights in India are quite bad, so they are lucky that they have a customer who cares a little bit more.

And Wistron first blaming some nefarious outsiders without having checked what happened was not a good move for them.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
gnasher729 Avatar
58 months ago

Apple still going to do business with this factory?

Well, maybe if Apple didn't demand razor thin profit contracts they might have had a little bit more cashflow to pay their employees.
If you read the article, Wistron has a chance to fix the problem and will lose their contract with Apple if they don't. For the whole of Wistron. For Wistron, it's not about that factory, it's about their _whole_ business with Apple. And it's also quite clear that the problem wasn't not enough money, it was someone "losing" the paperwork to pay their employees. We don't even know if the money is still in some company's bank account or has moved into someone's pocket, which isn't unheard of in India.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
seinman Avatar
58 months ago
You love to see it. Direct action brings results. Too bad Americans are too *********** to do the same when they strike.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
tongxinshe Avatar
58 months ago
It’s not as easy to exploit Indian workers as they did to Chinese workers. Other countries should follow suite with what the Indian workers do.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
koruki Avatar
58 months ago

They need to ditch China. So they must put up with India to manufacture phones elsewhere.
They NEED to? why not do it in Taiwan then? Not enough cheap labor? moving it to India fixes nothing, same pile of s*&^ different name
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
profcutter Avatar
58 months ago

You love to see it. Direct action brings results. Too bad Americans are too *********** to do the same when they strike.
Came here to say the same thing. It’s the only thing the bosses understand.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)