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On July 31, according to the Times of India, people familiar with the matter said that Tata Group's plan to acquire a majority stake in Chinese smartphone giant vivo's Indian business may be hindered by Apple's opposition.

In mid-June this year, Moneycontrol reported that vivo's Indian branch was about to be acquired. Indian company Tata Group wanted to acquire 51% of vivo's Indian branch and required that the acquired company be dominated by India. The discussion has entered the late stage and negotiations have begun around valuation. vivo has been seeking a higher valuation, and Tata Group is interested in the deal, but it has not yet been finalized.

A person familiar with the matter said, "This is one of Vivo's efforts to Indianize its business under pressure from the Indian government."

Tata Group has been expanding aggressively in the electronics sector. At the end of October last year, Tata Group acquired the factory of Apple's manufacturing partner, Taiwan's Wistron, which was a big win for it as it was able to break into the main supplier ecosystem of the US electronics giant Apple. Through cooperation with Apple, Tata Group has the opportunity to produce iPhones not only for sale in India, but also for the global market.

The partnership with Apple has helped Tata Group gain scale as one of the world’s most profitable smartphone sellers and also given it credibility in a global ecosystem of electronics manufacturers dominated by Taiwan’s Foxconn, Pegatron and Wistron.

However, the report said that Apple was not happy with the deal to acquire a stake in vivo because its devices were manufactured by the Tata Group in Bangalore. "This was one of the main reasons for the failure of the plan," said a source. "For Apple, any deal between its key manufacturing ally Tata Group and vivo would mean cooperation with a competitor, which could lead to a breakdown in negotiations between Tata Group and vivo."

It is worth mentioning that in recent years, India has taken a series of measures against Chinese companies. In addition to requiring Xiaomi and OPPO to recover taxes and seize funds, it also arrested several vivo employees.

The Times of India claims that Chinese companies have been seeking to introduce more local partners by selling equity, which helps companies obtain funds faster - it has become increasingly difficult to obtain funds after India has stepped up its scrutiny of Chinese companies. In addition, having reliable local partners in the business helps companies avoid being affected by regulatory activities.

Regarding the news that Tata Group gave up the acquisition, The Times of India said that the questionnaires sent to Apple and Vivo did not receive any response. A spokesperson for the Tata Group said: "This development is denied."

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