Hedging its bets, Apple has apparently commissioned a third contract manufacturer to build iPhone 8 alongside established suppliers and longtime partners Foxconn and Pegatron. According to a Chinese-language report in the Economic Daily News newspaper, quoted by Taiwanese trade publication DigiTimes, Apple supplier Wistron will get to build some of the future iPhone units.
Most of the iPhone models Apple develops, markets and sells are being assembled by Foxconn, the world's leading contract manufacturer. In a new investigative piece, The New York Times newspaper delves into the inner workings of Foxconn's iPhone manufacturing plant in Zhengzhou, a city of six million people in an impoverished region of China.
Fun fact: the world’s biggest iPhone factory, referred to as “iPhone City” by the locals, is capable of churning out half a million iPhones per day at peak.
According to Japanese outlet Nikkei, cited by DigiTimes, Sharp is hoping to secure some camera lens orders from Apple for future iPhones. To boost its chances of cutting a lucrative deal with Apple, Sharp is now speculated to increase its investment in Japan-based lens module maker Kantatsu, in which it currently holds a 44 percent stake.
Sharp would need to compete with Taiwan-based Largan Precision, which currently supplies iPhone camera lens modules in volume. Sharp is owned by Foxconn, the world's top contract manufacturer that assembles iPhones.
After the United States President-elect Donald Trump promised tax incentives to Apple to build “Made in USA” iPhones, Japanese outlet Nikkei reported that Tim Cook & Co. already asked back in June its contract manufacturers Foxconn and Pegatron to look into assembling iPhones domestically. Foxconn reportedly complied, but don't expect other Chinese vendors in Apple's vast supply chain to follow suit.
As reported Wednesday by Chinese-language outlet qq and cited by trade publication DigiTimes, most Chinese supply chain makers will not follow Foxconn even if Apple decides to shift production to U.S.
Last month, Apple officially agreed to set up a research and development center in Indonesia. Now we learn from a report Monday by Chinese-language outlet Economic Daily News that the company's allegedly partnered with contract manufacturer Foxconn to accelerate the planned expansion into the Southeast Asia region. The report was cited by Taiwanese trade publication DigiTimes.
Taiwan-based iPhone manufacturer Foxconn is said to be considering pouring as much as $7 billion into a massive expansion of its operations in the United States, looking to create 50,000 jobs within the country in the next four years, Reuters reported Wednesday.
Foxconn is reportedly looking to build a collection of U.S.-based assembly plants.
The company has confirmed being in preliminary discussions regarding expansion of its U.S. operations. CNBC earlier posted a slide which pegs the investment at $7 billion.
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump repeatedly said during his campaign that he would force domestic technology companies like Apple to build its “computers and things” in the United States.
One time, he even openly called for boycotting Apple products unless the company doesn't bring back manufacturing jobs it had outsourced to China many, many, many years ago.
Japanese outlet Nikkei is reporting today that iPhone contract manufactures Foxconn and Pegatron were approached recently by the Cupertino firm regarding the possibility of establishing iPhone manufactories in the United States.
Foxconn Technology Group, the world’s top contract manufacturer and the biggest assembler of Apple products, reported rising revenues for the September quarter and a decline in net profit. Revenue for the July-September quarter climbed from NT$1.066 trillion ($33.43 billion) a year earlier to NT$1.075 trillion ($33.7 billion) thanks to brisk sales of the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus.
However, losses produced by Foxconn-owned electronics maker Sharp caused net profit to fall to NY$34.6 billion ($1.09 billion) from NY$37.9 billion ($1.19 billion) a year earlier.
Sharp President Tai Jeng-wu—who is also a high-profile executive at Foxconn, Sharp's parent company and Apple's favorite contract manufacturer—said publicly that Apple's next iPhone will use a curved screen based on organic light-emitting diode (OLED) technology akin to that on Samsung's Galaxy S7 smartphone, Nikkei reported Saturday.
As you know, Apple currently uses OLED screens on the Apple Watch and the new MacBook Pro's Touch Bar. All iPhone, iPad and iPod touch devices to date have used traditional LCD screens.
A May report from The Economic Times alleged that Apple had approached Foxconn about assembling iPhones in India in the next two to three years. The Economic Times of India confirmed Monday that Foxconn will be expanding its operations in India next year, backing its $600 million investments already made in the country.
iPhone manufacturer Hon Hai Precision Industry, better known in the Western press as Foxconn, has obtained approval from the local government to repair iPhones at its subsidiary in Shanxi, China, according to a report in the Chinese-language Economic Daily News newspaper cited by Taiwanese publication DigiTimes. This marks a second Foxconn subsidiary that can now repair iPhones.
The business model helps Apple to “save 40 percent of its costs on its smartphone maintenance services,” added the paper.
iPhone manufacturer Foxconn is giving bonuses to employees in an effort to maintain workforce ahead of the iPhone 7 introduction, trade publication DigiTimes quoted Taiwanese media as saying this morning. The contract manufacturer has reportedly been “encouraging internal recommendations” by treating each employee who recommends qualified workers to a cash bonus of up to CNY1,400, or about $209.