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.
Manufacturing
Samsung suspends Galaxy Note 7 production
Samsung has temporarily halted production of its troubled Galaxy Note 7, reports Korean news agency Yonhap. The move follows decisions made on Sunday by multiple carriers, including AT&T and T-Mobile, to stop offering new units as replacements for those affected by the recall.
An anonymous source tells the outlet that the suspension in production is in cooperation with consumer safety regulators from South Korea, and various other countries, and that the measure includes a manufacturing plant in Vietnam that is responsible for global Note 7 shipments.
TSMC to start mass producing 10nm chips nearly a year ahead of Intel
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (TSMC), which builds Apple's in-house designed A10 Fusion chip that powers the iPhone 7, has confirmed mass production of ten-nanometer chips for clients will kick off by year-end, beating Intel by almost a year in terms of high-performance silicon.
Chip maker Intel's own ten-nanometer chips are due in second half of 2017.
Apple boosting iPhone 7 component orders significantly ahead of the holiday quarter
Unfazed by analyst reports predicting lower iPhone 7 sales this year versus the iPhone 6s in 2015, Apple is now reportedly increasing part and component orders for the handset, touch panel makers told Taiwanese trade publication DigiTimes. Component orders for the holiday quarter are said to be 20-30 percent higher, according to Taiwan-based touch panel makers TPK Holding and General Interface Solution.
Pegatron CEO and Piper Jaffray slam analysts who predicted poor iPhone 7 sales
The CEO of Pegatron, a Taiwanese contract manufacturer that assembles Apple handsets along with Foxconn, told Nikkei Asian Review he remained “cautiously optimistic” about iPhone 7 sales.
His comment targets a recent analyst report from KGI Securities' Ming-Chi Kuo predicting fewer iPhone 7 sales in 2016 than the iPhone 6s garnered in 2015. Analyst firm Piper Jaffray, too, downplayed Kuo's negative report in an interview with AppleInsider, saying it's seeing similarities to the monster iPhone 6 upgrade cycle.
Foxconn obtains government permission to repair iPhones at its Shanxi, China subsidiary
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.
Apple has ramped up chip and component orders for Apple Watch Series 2
Apple appears confident that the new Apple Watch Series 2 will be twice as successful as the original model and has reportedly ramped up chip and component orders for the device, according to Taiwanese trade publication DigiTimes that has solid sources in Asian supply chain.
How it’s made: black iPhone 7
I'm sure you know that Apple's new iPhone 7 series brings two new finishes to the mix, replacing the previous Space Gray colorway.
Both are black, but one gives you classic anodized matte appearance while the other results in a highly glossy look and feel. The matte one is called simply Black and the glossy is referred to as Jet Black.
Wondering how they're made?
Good, because Apple's now shared a video in which it shows off a brand new manufacturing process it had to develop in order to create these new dark looks.
Apple increases iPhone 7 production orders ahead of Wednesday’s event
With just two days left until Apple's big reveal, the Cupertino firm is said to have increased production orders for the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus. According to supply chain sources that spoke with Taiwanese trade publication DigiTimes, Apple has boosted its original prediction by ten percent for parts and components needed for production of the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, which are scheduled to be released on Wednesday, September 7.
Foxconn giving bonuses to assembly line workers ahead of iPhone 7 introduction
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.
Intel could begin fabricating iPhone and iPad chips as early as 2018
Both in-house designed 'A10' and 'A11' chips for this year's iPhone 7 and 2017 iPhones/iPads, respectively, are believed to be manufactured solely by Taiwan's semiconductor foundry TSMC (sorry, Samsung).
According to Nikkei Asian Review, Intel is now perfectly poised to give TSMC a good run for its money in as little as two years because any Apple chips after the A10/A11 should be fabricated by Intel.
The recently signed licensing deal between Intel and UK-based ARM Holdings lets the former fabricate chips for smartphones based on the latter's CPU technology.
TSMC to build Apple’s in-house designed AMOLED driver chips for 10th Anniversary iPhone
TSMC is believed to have secured orders for an Apple-designed 'A11' system-on-a-chip expected to power so-called Tenth Anniversary iPhone and new iPads in 2017, trade publication DigiTimes reports. The chip should be fabricated on TSMC's ten-nanometer process technology and use its backend integrated fan-out (InFO) wafer-level packaging technology. Additionally, TSMC should build Apple-designed circuitry to drive 2017 iPhone's AMOLED panel.