Production

Foxconn admits to hiring teens to do the work

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 16, 2012

Foxconn is the world's largest contract manufacturer and Apple's favorite contractor. Its sweatshops in China are under a constant barrage of criticism regarding labor conditions. Apple and Foxconn have been working to cut long hours and increase wages (twice), but when you have to deal with a workforce of approximately one million individuals, it's virtually impossible to deal with individual abuses that may occur.

Except, of course, that Foxconn has a pattern of underage labor and other serious workplace violations. Also, being the world's biggest manufacturer doesn't help because the media tends to zero in on Foxconn and Apple to make an example. The following story underscores how the two parties have not done nearly enough to prevent workplace abuses...

Apple reportedly looking to expand iPhone production to Foxconn subsidiary

Cody Lee ∙ Updated February 22, 2018

Over the past few weeks, we've been hearing about problems within Foxconn's production lines regarding the iPhone 5. Workers are unhappy with the complicated manufacturing procedures, and higher quality standards, and thousands have even gone on strike.

These problems are said to be one of the main factors in the iPhone 5 supply constraint Apple is seeing worldwide. It's three weeks after launch, and the handset is still seeing shipping times of 3-4 weeks. But rumor has it that Apple is working on a solution...

The iPad mini: are you ready for Scuffgate on a grand scale?

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated June 13, 2016

October 10 has come and gone without an Apple invitation (Fortune's Philip Elmer-DeWitt who called for it apologized), prompting watchers to wonder about a smaller and cheaper iPad Apple's rumored to be close to launching under the iPad mini moniker.

According to a supply chain report today, Apple is facing quality control issues with the device's display and chassis, suggesting that shipments are not smooth at the moment due to low yield rates. The report notes that the iPad mini will come in native and black-colored aluminum chassis said to be "more vulnerable to scratching". That doesn't sound good.

The manufacturing difficulties are being blamed on anodizing, a finish process where aluminum thrown into a pool of chemicals and then running an electrical current through the acid bath, which produces a skin-deep layer that can easily be peeled off. The anodized finish process on the black cases for the iPad mini is reportedly "more critical", resulting in lower yield rates...

Aluminum backing said to be the blame for iPhone 5 supply constraints

Cody Lee ∙ October 10, 2012

It's been almost three weeks since the iPhone 5 went on sale here in the US, and it's practically impossible to find the handset. Apple's website still shows shipping time estimates of 3-4 weeks, and both Verizon and AT&T show the phone won't be available until November.

On the surface, it seems that Apple is once again a victim of its own success: it simply can't make iPhones fast enough to meet demand. But apparently there's more to it than that. Word is that the phone's aluminum backing has been a major factor in the supply constraints...

Rumor: Apple’s been working with mysterious carbon fiber supplier for 3 years

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 9, 2012

A report by the Japanese blog Macotakara recently asserted that Apple ordered parts made of carbon fiber, presumably for an entirely new product (no iBike jokes, please), though for all we know the company could be simply looking to replace aluminum in products with lighter and stronger carbon fiber parts.

The report would name neither the supplier nor the product in question and today the same blog ran another story shedding more light on the matter.

Apple apparently has been working with the mysterious supplier for at least three years, suggesting that the shipments of carbon fiber parts (said to be too large to simply be a sample) stem from Apple's multi-year partnership with the vendor...

Investigation finds that child labor and worker abuse is a common practice at Samsung factories

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 27, 2017

It's not just Apple. Samsung, too, is taking advantage of cheap child labor who put long hours into someone else's dream. According to a scathing report titled "Samsung Factory Exploiting Child Labor" and put together by the members of China Labor Watch (CWL), a New York-based non-government organization founded by labor activist Li Qiang, the practice of hiring child labor is "prevalent" at factories run by HEG Electronics, which assembles cell phones, DVDs, stereo equipment and music players for Samsung...

WSJ: Apple has ordered more than 10 million iPad minis

Cody Lee ∙ October 8, 2012

Though Apple has been mum about the iPad mini thus far, reports continue to drop that the smaller tablet is on the way. Last week, it was said that the slate was already in production. And today, more new information has surfaced.

Apparently, Apple's Asian component suppliers have received orders to build more than 10 million iPad minis for Q4 of this year...

Thousands of Foxconn workers go on strike over iPhone 5 production

Cody Lee ∙ October 5, 2012

When Apple introduced the iPhone 5, it noted: "We've developed manufacturing processes that are our most complex and ambitions. Never before have we built a product with this extraordinary level of fit and finish."

While the end result of these complex methods — i.e. the iPhone 5 — appears to be making customers happy, the processes themselves seem to be causing problems at the factories. A new report is out this afternoon that thousands of Foxconn workers have gone on strike due to issues with iPhone 5 production...

WSJ confirms mass production of the iPad mini

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 3, 2012

The Wall Street Journal lent its aura of credibility to the iPad mini rumor with a report out this morning declaring that Apple's manufacturing partners in Asia have started mass-producing the device, in time for a rumored October 17 announcement and early-November availability.

According to "people with knowledge of the situation", the device will indeed have a 7.85-inch liquid-crystal display with a lower resolution than the third-generation iPad with a 2,048-by-1,536 pixel Retina display, meaning the iPad mini will quite possibly run a 1024-by-768 display just as the original iPad and iPad 2 do...

Rumor: iPad mini production kicks off in Brazil

Christian Zibreg ∙ October 1, 2012

Apple's favorite manufacturer Foxconn runs plants in Brazil, among them facilities that churn out some iPhones, so it doesn't come as a surprise that Japanese blog Macotakara is out with a new report claiming that Apple's rumored mini iPad will be made in Brazil, just as we'd first heard back in January. The story conveniently coincides with another report from this morning calling for a media event for the iPad mini early in the second half of this month...

Sharp: we removed bottleneck in supplies of iPhone 5 displays

Christian Zibreg ∙ September 28, 2012

The struggling Japanese electronics giant Sharp confirmed Friday that it is making "adequate volumes" of displays used for Apple's iPhone 5, Reuters reports. Sharp's statement arrives just as Apple has rolled out the device to 22 more countries this morning. The ongoing supply constraints continue to affect availability of the iPhone 5, which still shows 2-3 week shipping times on Apple's international online stores. Furthermore, some international carriers stopped taking iPhone 5 pre-orders due to low supplies...

Apple reportedly ordering carbon fiber parts for a mysterious new product

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated January 26, 2016

Forget about Liquidmetal: Apple is said to be ordering parts made of carbon fiber and these are allegedly for a mysterious new product. A Japanese supplier has apparently been commissioned to deliver carbon fiber items, but quantities are said to far surpass what constitutes a sample.

Coincidentally or not, Apple's patent filings indicate that the company has been researching carbon-fiber enclosures for quite some time. Now, imagine if you a will a carbon fiber-clad iOS device which doesn't get easily scratched and is even more lightweight than your Unibody aluminum iPhone 5...