Wait times for some Macs now stretch into August. Apple manufacturer Quanta Computer simply can’t assemble enough units to meet demand, as its workers revolt at lengthy COVID-19 lockdowns.
The delays caused by the lockdowns, enforced by the Chinese government in an attempt to control the spread of the highly transmissible disease, are not just irritating to customers, though. Apple predicts the problem will mean an $8 billion hit to its revenue.
New video out of China shows workers at a MacBook assembly plant in Shanghai fighting with security guards. The Quanta Computer employees have been forced to live at their workplace for weeks amidst COVID-19 lockdowns ordered by the Chinese government.
The workers apparently hoped to leave the facility to go shopping.
Everyone waiting for a new MacBook Pro to be delivered can take heart from a report that Quanta Computer has restarted assembling Apple notebooks. This comes after its assembly plant in Shanghai had been temporarily closed as part of the Chinese government’s attempts to slow the spread of COVID-19.
In the meantime, though, wait times for top-tier MacBooks now stretch into July.
People who ordered a top-tier MacBook Pro in February are being notified that it won’t be delivered until June. The delay results from COVID-19 lockdowns in China hampering notebook assembly.
New orders also face delays of several months, making a refurbished 2021 MacBook Pro a better option for some buyers.
Prolific criminal ransomware group REvil its trying to extort money from Apple, following a data-stealing cyberattack on one of its Mac suppliers. It wants Apple to pay an undisclosed sum by May 1 if it doesn’t want its proprietary data made public.
Quanta, one of Apple’s larger suppliers, confirmed Wednesday that it had been hit with a ransomware attack. The company said that it was doing its best to recover the missing data.
Apple is seemingly having a supplier shakeup to kickstart the 2020s — with Cupertino shifting production for some of its biggest products to other manufacturers. Including adding another supplier for its ultra-popular AirPods Pro.
According to longtime Apple analyst Ming-Chi, Apple will be making changes to the suppliers of the AirPods Pro, the S-series chips for the next-gen Apple Watch, the iPod touch and the non-cellular iPad.
Quanta Computer could stop making Apple Watches and give its dedicated assembly facility the boot sometime next year, according to sources in China.
It is believed the company currently has “profit concerns” with Watch manufacturing.
The Apple Watch Series 4 may be the first “must have” generation of Apple’s wearable device, and manufacturer Quanta Computer is working to full capacity to make sure it reaches as many customers as possible.
According to a new report, Quanta Computer’s capacity for the new Apple Watch at its factory in Changshu, eastern China is already “fully loaded.” In an effort to deliver even more of the devices, Apple has recruited a second supplier — Compal Electronics — which will start mass production in November.
One of Apple’s manufacturing partners will enjoy a significant boost in the fourth quarter of 2018 as a result of the company’s new, “inexpensive notebooks.”
Quanta Computer has just been overtaken by Compal as the world’s top laptop manufacturer, but it will catch up this year as Apple prepares to deliver what will likely be a new MacBook Air.
One of Apple’s biggest manufacturing partners says it plans to get into the augmented reality business.
Quanta Computer revealed today that it has struck an agreement to start making lenses for an augmented reality headset. Even though the deal isn’t with Apple, it could signal that augmented reality headsets are about to hit the market in a big way.
