Apple’s division of its supply chain into one part aimed at the China market and the other aimed at the rest of the world continues apace. The goal? Helping Apple get around rumbling trade tensions between the United States and China.
According to a Friday report from Digitimes, Apple is giving more orders to Chinese firms Luxshare Precision and BYD for the Apple Watch Series 6 and Wi-Fi iPad series, respectively.
Apple’s item location-tracking AirTags are already in production, claims a Nikkei report published Tuesday. This suggests that AirTags, which have been heavily rumored for months, are likely on the verge of launching.
AirTags can be attached to items like a keychain or luggage and then be easily located using the “Find My” app on iPhone. This tags will use ultra-wideband technology to accurately determine their location. Recently, sounds discovered in iOS code gave an indication of how the AirTag-finding process will work.
Apple A-series chip manufacturer TSMC has obtained land upon which it plans to build a 2-nanometer fabrication plant, the company’s senior vice president for operations revealed.
In a report published Tuesday, YP Chin said the next-next gen chip fab facility will be located in Hsinchu, a city in northern Taiwan. While there’s no confirmation on when the 2-nm chips will debut, if past patterns are anything to go by, it’s likely they will debut with the 2024 iPhone.
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.
A Chinese company facing U.S. sanctions for using forced labor provided clothing or raw materials to Apple, possibly in the form of uniforms for its retail employees, claims The Guardian.
Changji Esquel Textile is one of a group of 11 companies that reportedly violated human rights in China’s western Xinjiang region. The company denies using forced labor “anywhere” in its business and says it will appeal its inclusion on the sanctions list.
Apple reportedly encountered a problem with some of the camera lenses it plans to use for the iPhone 12. Specifically, some of the coatings for the wide-angle lens cracked during a high-pressure, high-humidity stress test, according to TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.
While that might not sound great, there’s actually no reason to panic. And the supply-chain problem might even wind up saving Apple a few bucks.
This week on The CultCast: Apple — and the company’s entire supply chain — will be 100% carbon neutral by 2030, pushing the world of tech toward big changes. Plus: A powerful iOS 14 privacy feature will be great for consumers, but might kill the billion-dollar online ad industry. We’ll also tell you about some exciting new podcast features coming to Spotify, and wrap up with our favorite new gadgets on an all-new Under Review.
Our thanks to NETGEAR for supporting this episode. The Orbi WiFi 6 router gives you ultra-fast speeds and wider coverage throughout your home — it’s the biggest revolution in Wi-Fi ever. Check it out today at Netgear.com/bestwifi.
Apple reportedly cut orders for its future 5G iPhones with Chinese component makers, fearing a slowdown in orders as a result of what many economists are already calling the beginnings of a global recession.
Chinese daily technology newspaper Digitimes reported Friday some component suppliers have been told by Apple they will not need as many parts for new iPhones, expected to be released later this year. Other suppliers now say that they too expect a slowdown in orders from the iPhone-maker.
The next three months are going to be crucial in determining Apple’s year ahead, Wedbush analyst Dan Ives writes in his latest note to clients, as seen by Cult of Mac.
In a message sent Sunday, Ives lays out his thoughts on best- and worst-case scenarios for Apple over the next few months amid fallout from the coronavirus pandemic. The results likely will have a major impact on Apple going forward.
iPhone fans dying for a 5G upgrade might be kept waiting a little bit longer thanks to the coronavirus pandemic.
Apple is reportedly having internal discussions debating whether to delay the launch of the 5G iPhone by months. The iPhone 12 was expected to be released this fall, but Asian news site Nikkei says supply chain problems might force the company to push the date back. And there’s something else worrying Apple execs, too.
Apple’s supply chain is still weathering the effects of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, a report published late Thursday by Bloomberg makes clear.
Even though China has seemingly overcome the worst of the coronavirus spread, Apple products are continuing the suffer the impacts. That is likely to manifest itself in the form of delays for new products and fresh batches of existing ones.
Apple decided to postpone a March product launch event after continuing delays in the production of an expected successor to the iPhone SE, a source at Apple confirmed to Cult of Mac.
A number of other problems played into the decision to delay the event that was being planned, including the worsening impact of the COVID-19 strain of the coronavirus in California and elsewhere.
The spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus could hurt Apple’s plans to launch its first 5G iPhones in the second half of 2020, a new report claims.
According to a DigiTimes report Monday, Apple extended restrictions on employees traveling to parts of Asia until the end of April. The extension will delay tests for the next-generation iPhone that “could have a direct impact” on launch timing.
Apple’s biggest contract manufacturer, Foxconn, endured a rough February as the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak worsened in China.
The company, which is also the world’s biggest electronics manufacturer, suffered its biggest monthly drop in revenue in around seven years. Its earnings, announced Thursday, show an 18.1% decline in revenue versus the same period last year. This marks the company’s third straight month of decline.
Apple Stores are running low on iPhone replacements and repair parts as COVID-19-related delays begin reaching consumers.
The tech giant informed technical support staff at its stores to expect delays of two to four weeks for replacement phones and individual parts.
Apple manufacturer Foxconn hopes to resume regular production in China by the end of March.
Foxconn’s operations, which include iPhone production lines, have been severely impacted by the outbreak of the COVID-19 virus. The world’s largest electronics contract manufacturer previously said it expects its full-year revenues to take a hit.
Two suppliers that make components for Apple in China employ forced labor, according to a report published Sunday. The Washington Post says BOE Technology Group, which supplies screens to Apple, and O-Film, which makes iPhone cameras, both use Uighur labor, either directly or through contractors. Apple lists both companies on its latest supplier list.
The report describes how the Chinese government detained more than 1 million ethnic Uighurs from China’s western Xinjiang region in reeducation camps. And it says evidence indicates that authorities “are moving Uighurs into government-directed labour around the country as part of the central government’s Xinjiang Aid initiative.”
CEO Tim Cook promises Apple is fundamentally strong and will weather the problems resulting from the coronavirus spreading around the world. He says his focus isn’t on short-term changes in Apple’s share price, despite a recent significant drop.
In a wide-ranging interview with Fox Business recorded Thursday in Birmingham, Alabama, Cook also discussed whether his company will move more device production out of China, and his relationship with President Donald Trump.
One veteran executive is leaving Apple, while another exec is considering departing the company as well, a new report claims. Both worked in the operations and supply-chain management side.
Nick Forlenza, a vice president of manufacturing design, has retired from Apple. Meanwhile, Duco Pasmooij, a vice president of operations, is discussing an exit in the near future. The operations side of Apple is currently facing challenges related to the outbreak of coronavirus in China, where many of Apple’s supply-side contractors are located.
Tossed into the swirl of rumors and reports about coronavirus and its impact on Apple production is an alleged new entry to the AirPods lineup called “AirPods Pro Lite.”
The quotes bookending the product name are because no one is sure what to make of what is essentially a rumor first reported by a Chinese website with a mixed record for accuracy.
In the last few days, reports have surfaced in DigiTimes of a second “lite” version supplier, giving further credence to the various reports.
The Chinese government developed an app that lets users check whether they are at risk of infection from the novel coronavirus spreading across the country.
The location-aware “close contact detector” app reveals whether users have been close to another person suspected of having coronavirus. The data-hungry app serves as yet another illustration of China’s surveillance-heavy approach to controlling its citizens.
Key iPhone manufacturer Foxconn continues to feel the effects of the deadly coronavirus outbreak in China. The company recently reopened its factory in the eastern central Chinese city of Zhengzhou, but fewer than 10% of its workforce returned to work, according to Reuters.
Meanwhile, the Chinese government rejected Foxconn’s request to reopen its factory in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen.
The Chinese company that assembles most of the world’s iPhones has ordered employees in one region of the country not to return to work next week to prevent further spread of the deadly coronavirus.
Foxconn sent text messages to Shenzhen-based employees that those sites will remain closed until further notice. While Foxconn’s main iPhone factory is in Zhengzhou, a portion is assembled in Shenzhen. Shenzhen is also the headquarters for Foxconn’s parent company, Hon Hai Precision Industry Co.
Apple’s manufacturing partners in China hope to jump back into action next week, after the coronavirus epidemic forced temporary shutdowns in the country, according to a new report.
Foxconn, LG Display and others “plan to resume full-scale production” on February 10. But with the viral outbreak only worsening as the weeks go on, there’s a definite chance of further delays.
Government-ordered quarantines in place to contain a deadly coronavirus outbreak in China have forced Apple to temporarily close three stores in the country.
Apple’s good news about a record-breaking quarter this week have been tempered as executives monitor conditions in a country critical to the mass production of its most popular devices, especially the iPhone.