Apple suppliers Foxconn, TSMC to each add 5,000 jobs

TSMC, which manufactures Apple's custom A-series chips, and Hon Hai Precision, parent company of Foxconn and longtime Apple manufacturing partner, will add 5,000 new jobs each, Reuters reported on Monday, citing the Taiwanese Economic Daily. The two companies have apparently begun posting recruitment notices at events designed for graduating Taiwanese university students.

For Hon Hai, the new hiring surge is the largest of its kind in recent years. Hon Hai will reportedly be hiring largely research and development personnel. Those workers will head into automated production, e-commerce, and robots. TSMC, meanwhile, is recruiting largely for equipment managers.

The new hiring may indicate that Apple and its suppliers are gearing up for a new wave of Apple products. Apple CEO Tim Cook said earlier this year that Apple's product line was "chock full of incredible stuff," though Cook declined to go into specifics on what consumers could expect.

Cook also cautioned against reading too much into any Apple supply chain happenings. The company, Cook said, sources its materials from a wide range of suppliers, so looking to any one or two particular suppliers is unlikely to give true insight as to Apple's plans or fortunes.

Monday's report seems to fly in the face of other reports from analysts that "channel checks" showed Apple suppliers suffering through a rough February. CNN relayed on Monday Topeka Capital analyst Brian White's findings, which saw a 31 percent decline in sales companies examined by White's "Apple Monitor." Hon Hai, according to White, saw a 25 percent month-over-month drop in sales for February.