Foxconn

Foxconn showcases its own smartwatch ahead of Apple’s iWatch

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

Could Apple's largest contract manufacturer also become a competitor? Foxconn's parent company, Hon Hai, unveiled a smartwatch that connects to your iPhone, displaying phone calls and Facebook messages. The news comes as the Taiwan-based assembler of iPhones seeks ways to diversify income as the industry undergoes some uncertain times.

The watch, unveiled by Hon Hai Chairman Terry Gou Wednesday, appears to compete against the iWatch, a rumored device that Apple may introduce. Despite not being an actual iWatch, Foxconn reportedly received 1,000 orders for its product...

Foxconn chief talks diversification amid lack of Apple product launches

Ed Sutherland ∙ June 26, 2013

There is a ripple effect underway in the smartphone industry. As consumers shift from high-priced smartphones to basic lower-cost alternatives, companies such as Apple look to produce lower-priced handsets. The latest in line are manufacturers, such as Foxconn, which for years has tied its profit wagon to Apple's success. Now comes word Foxconn's parent company seeks to diversify into e-commerce and perhaps licensing its vast library of patents...

‘Intensive delivery’ of budget iPhone parts reportedly underway, August availability

Christian Zibreg ∙ June 13, 2013

There's no escaping budget iPhone talk today. Reuters opened the morning discussion with a write-up calling for two large-screen iPhones in 2014 and citing sources insisting that an elusive less-pricey iPhone will get released later this year at a somewhat unbelievable price point of just $99.

Shortly after, the reliable Japanese blog Macotkara learned from its sources that the alleged budget iPhone will come in five colors borrowed from Apple's iPhone 5 bumpers: black, white, pink, orange and blue. A Chinese newspaper now seemingly corroborates the chatter, writing that a bunch of Taiwanese suppliers are now shipping parts ahead of the handset assembly...

WSJ: Foxconn rival Pegatron is primary budget iPhone manufacturer

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated December 6, 2017

We first heard from The New York Times that the world's top contract manufacturer Foxconn is looking past the iPhone amid Apple's slowing growth. Reuters previously ran an anti-Apple piece which asserted that Tim Cook & Co. are looking to shift from Foxconn to rival Pegatron, which currently builds the older iPhone 4/4S models.

On Monday, The Wall Street Journal ran a story claiming Foxconn is looking to manufacture, market and sell its own mobile accessories compatible with iOS devices. Moreover, the story goes, Foxconn is said to be expanding its high-margin retail operations and investing in content and services.

Today, the Rupert Murdoch-owned newspaper sheds more light on the subject, claiming Cook has re-shuffled Apple's supply chain and re-iterating that Pegatron will be the "primary assembler" of Apple's rumored low-cost iPhone, which the Journal expects to be offered "later this year"...

iPhone manufacturer Foxconn launching Firefox OS-powered tablet on June 3

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated November 19, 2018

Yesterday, The Wall Street Journal said the world's top contract manufacturer, Foxconn, was looking to diversify beyond assembling Apple products.

Today, a Taiwanese publication reports that Foxconn has teamed up with the Firefox browser maker Mozilla on a mobile device to be powered by the Firefox OS.

This isn't a rumor: the two partners have invited the press to the unveiling of a new device on June 3. According to the people in the know, the mysterious gizmo will be a tablet. The development puts Foxconn in a somewhat odd position as it assembles Apple's iPhones and iPads, though I doubt Apple is worried much - if at all - considering the Firefox OS is an also-ran in the mobile arena...

iPhone manufacturer Foxconn to build own iDevice accessories

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 27, 2013

Taiwan's Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. aka Foxconn, the world's top assembler of consumer electronics, is mulling making and selling its own branded accessories in a move to diversify beyond assembling Apple products.

Foxconn over the years has grown increasingly reliant on Apple contract and with increasing competition and Apple's slowing growth, the manufacturer is starting to feel the pain, too. The Apple biz comprises an estimated 50 percent of Foxconn's revenue, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday.

And earlier this month, The New York Times similarly reported that Foxconn is looking beyond the iPhone and anticipating to mass-manufacture a rumored standalone Apple television set...

Cook: US-made Macs to be built in Texas

Ed Sutherland ∙ May 22, 2013

Apple CEO Tim Cook, while squirming Tuesday under Congressional questions about the company's tax-savings tactics, revealed an interesting tidbit: the Lone Star State will build the the tech giant's made-in-USA Mac. Testifying before the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, Cook said the Mac would be assembled in Texas, with parts coming from other regions of the country...

Apple said to move from Foxconn to Pegatron

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

Hon Hai Precision Industry aka Foxconn, Apple's contract manufacturer of choice and the world's largest product assembler, is under threat to losing orders to rival Pegatron, which has been building older Apple products Like the iPhone 4S and 4.

According to a new Reuters report, Pegatron "wants to grab more orders to assemble the fast-selling iPhone and iPad." And in order to achieve this self-imposed goal, the Taiwanese manufacturer, which also builds the iPad mini, is reportedly ready to offer "more competitive pricing," even if it has to sacrifice its margins. The news gathering organization reports that Pegatron "appears to be succeeding" in pulling in more orders from Apple...

Apple manufacturer Foxconn looks past iPhone, anticipates iTV orders

Christian Zibreg ∙ May 7, 2013

Hon Hai Precision Industry - better known in the Western world as Foxconn - is the world's top manufacturer of consumer electronics. And with Apple products - the iPhone in particular - accounting for at least 40 percent of its revenue, the contract manufacturer's fortunes are tied to Apple's.

Needles to say, the company's leadership never complained about relying on Apple so much as long as sales were growing substantially. But with Apple's growth cooling off amid a broader sales lull affecting pricey high-end smartphones like the iPhone, Foxconn is now looking to lessen its exposure on the Apple smartphone and is apparently gearing up for a mass-scale production of an Apple-branded television set, the rumored iTV...

Apple reportedly returned 5-8M iPhones to Foxconn due to quality issues

Cody Lee ∙ April 22, 2013

When Apple introduced the iPhone 5 last fall, it made sure to mention its complex manufacturing process. "Never before have we built a product with this extraordinary level of fit and finish," Jony Ive said during a video on the handset.

The extra effort has obviously paid off, as the iPhone 5 has been very popular with consumers. But it's also causing problems for Foxconn, Apple's manufacturing partner, who continues to struggle with the device's intricate production methods...

Apple bashing earns New York Times a Pulitzer

Ed Sutherland ∙ Updated June 13, 2016

Remember how Apple's use of Chinese factories to produce its iPad was the focus of attention during 2012? Well, so did members of the Pulitzer committee, which Monday awarded a 2013 Pulitzer Prize to the New York Times.

The paper won critical awards for its iEconomy series, a nine-part look at the working conditions in Chinese factories producing the popular tablet. But was the series a "penetrating look into business practices by Apple," as the Pulitzer announcement claims, or simply a way to rehash a common practice by using the Apple brand as the foil?

Foxconn hiring assembly-line workers for next-gen iPhone production, WSJ and Bloomberg claim

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 15, 2013

Hon Hai Precision Industry aka Foxconn, which assembles iPhones and iPads for Apple, but also consumer electronics on behalf of other vendors, has started hiring assembly-line workers in the tens of thousands in preparation for Apple's next iPhone, both Bloomberg and the credulous Wall Street Journal reported Monday.

People familiar with the matter tell the publications that the world's largest contract manufacturer has been recruiting workers for the past month at its plant in Zhengzhou, eastern China.

The reports come following February indications pointing to Foxconn imposing a recruitment freeze across almost all of its factories in China after more workers returned from the Chinese New Year break than did last year, a move some attributed to the supposedly weakening iPhone demand...