iPhone 14 reportedly entered trial production this week ahead of its official debut this fall. The move indicates that Apple has finalized the lineup’s design and is now ready to identify problems that might arise during manufacturing.
Foxconn, Apple’s largest manufacturing partner, reportedly will build the flagship iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max. And Apple will task Luxshare, which makes some iPhone 13 Pro units, with manufacturing two more-affordable models.
Apple’s manufacturing partners are reportedly competing for staff as they ramp up for “iPhone 13” production in the coming months.
Foxconn, Luxshare, and Lens Technology are said to be among the assemblers offering incentives — including larger bonuses — to attract new staff. Competition has increased following a decline in interest in the work.
Apple apparently wants to build car batteries on its home soil. The company is eyeing a number of manufacturers as it plans to set up factories in the United States, according to a new report.
Foxconn, already one of Apple’s largest manufacturing partners, or Advanced Lithium Electrochemistry (Aleees) could get battery orders from Cupertino in the future, sources say.
The coronavirus pandemic continues to wreak havoc on Apple’s supply chain (as well as everywhere else), with two Apple suppliers ordered to temporarily shutter factories in Vietnam as a result of a surge of COVID cases in the region.
The companies in question, Foxconn and Luxshare Precision, operate plants in Vietnam’s northern region. The area has seen a big rise in cases, including two over the weekend at Luxshare’s plant in Van Trung Industrial Park.
Production on iPhones made in India has hit a major hurdle as coronavirus cases have surged in the country. More than 50% of one Foxconn factory’s production capacity has reportedly been cut.
India has seen its number of coronavirus cases ramping up significantly in April. To date, there have been 22.9 million confirmed cases of COVID in India, while 249,992 people have reportedly died. However, the actual numbers are thought to be even higher.
Foxconn is bolstering its workforce ahead of mass-manufacturing the iPhone 13. According to South China Morning Post, the world’s largest contract manufacturer has raised its bonus payments to lure in new recruits.
Each new recruit will earn a bonus of $1,158 (7,500 yuan) if they work for 90 days, and are on duty for at least 55 days during that time. This is twice the 3,500 bonus that was on offer at the end of March. It’s the third bonus increase in the past month.
Foxconn’s promised $10 billion LCD plant in Wisconsin isn’t happening. At least, not on anywhere close to the same level that was promised back in the summer of 2017.
The Apple contract manufacturer previously received a “record-setting incentives package” for a plant that would create 13,000 jobs. Now, the Wall Street Journal reports, Foxconn has renegotiated the deal — and will invest a total of $672 million by 2025 and create just 1,454 jobs in the region.
Apple manufacturer Foxconn’s first quarter revenue soared by 44%, Bloomberg reports. The publication pins the increased cashflow on “robust demand” for the iPhone 12.
Revenue for the first three months of 2021 increased to $47 billion, Foxconn reported Tuesday. In addition to the massive success of the latest iPhones, the high earnings also reflect demand for devices like video games consoles, servers, electric vehicles as well.
After talks with potential automotive partners stalled, Cupertino could stick with its key iPhone manufacturer to produce an Apple car, a Thursday report from Bloomberg suggests.
This would mark a big change in Apple’s strategy for breaking into the auto industry. The company previously looked to hook up with an established automaker — albeit seemingly with Apple receiving top billing.
A deal between Foxconn and Fisker might eventually lead to Apple having its self-driving car produced by the same company that assembles iPhones.
Electric vehicle-maker Fisker agreed on Wednesday to team up with Foxconn to develop a “breakthrough electric vehicle.” Foxconn will manufacture the car.
“Made in India” iPads are one step closer, as the country’s government has approved an incentive plan that could benefit the likes of Apple, Reuters reports.
Apple is reportedly investigating Foxconn regarding concerns that workers at its plants are overworked and underpaid.
Foxconn remains, for better or worse, Apple’s best-known contract manufacturer. While Foxconn, which employs around 1 million people, has far more clients than just Apple, it is most closely associated with the Cupertino tech giant.
An Apple car could ship in 2025, and will be “positioned as a very high-end” model in terms of pricing, claims TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.
Kuo doesn’t give a dollar figure. But he writes that the sticker price, as well as the cost of Apple car components, will come in much higher than a those for a regular electric vehicle.
Foxconn is building a $270 million factory in Vietnam, likely in response to Apple’s desire to move some iPad and MacBook production out of China.
Apple manufacturer Foxconn is setting up an automotive arm, just as Cupertino is reportedly gearing up to build an Apple Car. This could make Foxconn a prime manufacturing partner, much in the same way that the Taiwanese company currently assembles iPhones and other devices for Apple.
Foxconn, Apple’s largest supplier, looks to be getting in on the electric vehicle business. According to a Monday report from Bloomberg, the Taiwanese manufacturer is in talks to invest in Chinese EV startup Byton.
Foxconn reportedly plans to invest around $200 million in the company to begin mass-manufacturing the anticipated Byton M-Byte car by Q1 2022. An announcement could come as early as today.
Apple has reportedly asked Foxconn to shift some iPad and MacBook production from China to Vietnam. The move is said to be a precautionary measure designed to minimize any impact of ongoing trade tensions between the U.S. and China, sources say.
Apple has asked a number of manufacturing partners to begin building foldable iPhone prototypes, according to a new report. Foxconn and Nippon Nippon have been tasked with providing samples for testing.
It is believed the first foldable iPhone could make its debut as early as 2022.
Apple’s partnership with Foxconn, its largest manufacturing partner, is “eroding” as a result of the supposedly shady tactics that Foxconn is using in an effort to boost profits, according to a new report.
It is claimed that Foxconn has exaggerated hiring counts, used Apple equipment to produce orders for other companies, and cut corners on component and product testing.
Foxconn, Apple’s biggest manufacturing partner, is reportedly developing its own augmented reality (AR) smart glasses. These will be used in retail, smart factories, and smart medical care.
The AR glasses will utilize micro LED displays, one of the next-gen display technologies that Apple plans to use in future products. Apple is also said to be hard at work on its own AR glasses, tentatively dubbed “Apple Glass.”
Production is running full-tilt for the iPhone 12, the South China Morning Post reported Tuesday.
According to the publication, production is running 24 hours per day, with no vacations allowed and mandatory overtime. There are also “juicy bonuses” for employees who put in the time.
Apple manufacturer Foxconn said Wednesday that it plans to split its supply chain in two. One segment will service the China market, while the other will focus on the United States.
Foxconn chairman Young Liu said the manufacturing giant now operates 30% of its capacity outside China, up from 25% last June. In recent years, the company began moving manufacturing to other regions such as Southeast Asia to avoid possible tariffs on Chinese goods headed to the United States.
Yet another major Apple contract manufacturer is embracing India as a possible location for building iPhones. According to Bloomberg, Pegatron is the third major iPhone maker — after Foxconn and Wistron — to explore setting up a plant in India.
Foxconn has reportedly started trial production on polarized, semi-transparent AR lenses that could be used for Apple Glass, according to The Information.
The Friday paywalled report says the lenses are between one and two years away from entering mass production. However, they have already passed the prototyping phase, having been in development for three years.
Apple contract manufacturer Foxconn has successfully resolved an issue that was stopping its component shipments from China being imported to India, amid tensions between the two nations.
Customs officials were holding shipments from China following violent incidents at the Himalayan border, which is shared by China and India. This was reportedly causing problems for Foxconn, which carries out iPhone manufacturing (among other things) in both countries.