Manufacturing

Foxconn’s profits rise sharply on new Apple product launches

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 31, 2012

Shares of Foxconn, the world's largest contract manufacturer that assembles Apple's iPhone, iPad and a number of products for other big names in tech, posted its third-quarter earnings yesterday. The results are stronger than expected and attributed to high demand for the iPhone 5, warm iPad mini reception and the incoming new iMac, which arrives in November and is already predicted to be in short supply.

On the other hand, investors are also concerned over Apple's long-term growth prospect and Foxconn becoming too dependent on the Cupertino, California designer of shiny gadgets...

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3% of Apple’s supply chain workers still putting 60+ hour weeks into someone else’s dream

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 29, 2012

Determined to prove the world it's doing the right thing to prevent labor abuses in its supply chain, Apple has quietly updated the Labor and Human Rights web page with some interesting data points. The company's suppliers in August employed 60 percent more workers than in January of this year.

Three percent of supply chain workforce was putting more than 60 hours a week into assembling Apple products, data suggests. Ending the industry practice of excessive overtime "is a top priority", Apple writes.

It's easier said than done considering the unemployment rate of China’s youth of 7.6 percent in 2012 and Foxconn's reputation for shoddy working conditions and army style discipline in its sweatshops...

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Apple ups spending on components by $1.15 billion ahead of multiple product launches

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated October 10, 2018

According to Apple's most recent 10-K filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the company has increased its spending on components in the June quarter by as much as $1.15 billion versus the quarter-ago period, a tell tale indication of upcoming product launches.

Apple's prepayment for components is now 12.6 percent of its total third-quarter sales, the highest level one analyst has seen in the last four years. And if the swirling rumors are anything to go by, this year will mark one of the busiest holiday shopping seasons for Apple as the company readies the next iPhone, possibly a rumored mini iPad, the all-new iPod nano with network iTunes connection, to name a few...

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Foxconn planning a billion-dollar factory in Indonesia, creating a million jobs

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 18, 2012

Apple's contract assembler Foxcon, also known as Hon Hai Precision Industry Company, is planning a brand spanking new manufacturing facility in Indonesia said to be worth one billion dollars. It will assumably help Foxconn churn out more iPhones, iPads and iPods.

The new plant will come in addition to Foxconn's manufacturing sites in China's Chengdu province and Brazil, where some of iPad and iPhone production could move in the future. The Indonesia facility will create approximately one million new jobs in the region where the average monthly wage is a hundred bucks a month...

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Samsung snaps up UK’s fabless chip maker CSR to better compete with Apple

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated April 4, 2018

Adamant to strengthen its portfolio of wireless patents (that seem to be all the rage these days) and help differentiate its smartphone and mobile chip businesses, Samsung ponied up $310 million for the mobile business of Cambridge Silicon Radio (CSR) PLC, based out in Cambridge, United Kingdom.

With this transaction due for completion by the fourth quarter this year, Samsung will control CSR's patents related to Bluetooth, WiFi and GPS and obtain interesting handset technology that could help differentiate its flagship smartphones.

Samsung is of course embroiled in patent fights with Apple in courts across the world. At the same time, the company dedicates substantial resources to fabbing mobile chips found inside Apple's iOS devices.

Samsung appears keen on taking advantage of CSR's research and development capability as it looks to improve its own mobile chips, possibly leading to unique hardware features down the road...

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Is the end of the iFactory Girl upon us?

Christian Zibreg ∙ July 16, 2012

Despite ongoing criticism of poor labor conditions at its factories (sometimes likened to sweatshops), especially following The New York Times' iEconomy series, the world's largest assembler of electronics Foxconn could still be interested in replacing some of its one million low-wage workers with advanced industrial robots. Such an unprecedented switch wouldn't be without pitfalls. Robots promise to make gadget manufacturing faster, way more reliable and potentially cheaper, but also render a ton of human workers obsolete in the process...

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Apple reportedly facing a battery challenge with the next iPhone

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 25, 2016

A report from China claims Apple is facing a battery challenge in the development of the next iPhone. It's unclear whether this affects the planned October release, but apparently one of Apple's Taiwanese suppliers is having issues meeting requirements for the iPhone 5 battery.

Power-consuming 4G radios, a speedier processor and graphics and a taller display packing in more pixels will all require more juice so it remains to be seen if the next iPhone will be able to maintain decent battery life, especially given the iPhone 4S's disappointing battery performance...

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