Apple turning to new server suppliers to cut costs - report
Roger Fingas
In another cost-cutting measure, Apple is switching up its server supply chain to force price competition, a report claimed on Tuesday.
The company recently increased orders from Inventec partner ZT, and added another firm, Inspur, according to DigiTimes sources. This has led to lower orders from Quanta Computer, which is said to be shifting focus anyway, from datacenters to private cloud systems for enterprise.
Apple was previously more concerned with better technology and yield rates, but has now become more interested in price savings, the sources suggested.
The company is known to pit multiple suppliers against each other to keep price quotes down and its own profits up. In fact the company has reportedly been intesifying competition among component and assembly partners for iPhones and MacBooks, for instance adding Wistron as a third iPhone manufacturer on top of Foxconn and Pegatron.
Apple — and its investors — are used to high profit margins on its products, but the company has to weigh a number of factors, such as which new technologies it needs to attract buyers, and how much the public is willing to pay.
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