Apple's primary assembly partner, Foxconn, said on Thursday that it saw revenues for the month of December drop 8.3 percent year-over-year, likely a reflection of weak iPhone demand.
Foxconn appears ready to double-down on existing efforts in India and add to Apple's manufacturing options, as it looks to grow iPhone production beyond just low-cost models outside of China.
Foxconn is not in talks to settle an antitrust lawsuit it and other Apple assembly partners have leveled against Qualcomm, with its lawyers readying for a protracted legal battle.
TSMC and Foxconn, two of Apple's major iPhone production partners, have reported street-beating revenue for November, casting some doubt on supply chain reports suggesting component suppliers are struggling following iPhone production cuts.
Apple's iPhone assembly partner Pegatron appears to be making a move to Indonesia to sidestep the US/China trade dispute, despite recent news of a truce.
Apple assembly partner Foxconn is reportedly considering the possibility of setting up a new facility in Vietnam, a move that could potentially prevent the iPhone from being hit by tariffs created by the Trump administration in its ongoing trade war with China.
Foxconn is circulating a memo internally that says that it will be implementing a series of cost-cutting moves soon, to combat the effects of what it sees as being an difficult year for the company to continue to grow.
Foxconn may transfer engineers from China to staff its under-construction facility in Wisconsin due to a lack of appropriate skilled labor in the area, with Apple's assembly partner keen to meet employment targets in order to retain $3 billion in state and local incentives.
Apple, after seeing allegedly poor demand for the iPhone XR, has reportedly told assembly partners Foxconn and Pegatron to stop any preparations the firms are making for new smartphone production lines specifically for the recently-launched model.
Apple is reportedly changing its orders for the iPhone XR with its assembly partners, with some production being shifted from Pegatron to rival Foxconn over alleged capacity and component sourcing issues.
Share prices of Apple's suppliers in Asia slipped on Monday, after U.S. President Donald Trump tweeted in response to Apple's letter to the U.S. Trade Representative about the proposed Chinese tariffs, with the President calling a shift in production from China to the United States an "easy solution."
Apple chip producer TSMC and assembly partner Foxconn are expected to announce record revenue figures in its fourth quarter financial report later this year, after a report claims shipments of the next generation of iPhones will be the best since the launch of the iPhone 6.
Foxconn will not only manufacture every second-generation, 5.8-inch OLED iPhone — sometimes dubbed the "iPhone XS" — but 90 percent of 6.5-inch "XS Plus" units, and 75 percent of a 6.1-inch LCD budget model, according to one research firm.
Foxconn posted disappointing net profits for the June quarter on Monday, though the results may not be directly connected to its biggest client, Apple.
Foxconn chairman Terry Gou was joined by U.S. President Donald Trump, House Speaker Paul Ryan and others on Thursday as the company broke ground at a future factory in Mount Pleasant, Wis., which could potentially be turned to helping Apple.
This week on the AppleInsider Podcast, Victor and Andrew O'Hara discuss the new 2018 iPhone rumors, iPhone 6s production in India, and Foxconn's factory in Wisconsin. We also give a preview about some multi-room speaker systems Andrew is reviewing.
Foxconn's upcoming $10 billion display factory in Wisconsin is more lucrative to the Apple supplier than first thought, with state and municipal sweeteners adding almost an extra $1 billion in benefits above an existing incentive package worth $3 billion, increasing the burden on taxpayers.
The purchase of beleaguered Toshiba's memory group, long in limbo, is now complete, with Apple joining Bain, Dell, Seagate, and others to seal the deal.
This week on the AppleInsider podcast, Victor and Mike discuss Foxconn's IPO of an IoT group, Apple's self-driving vehicle news, and Mike educates the world on the relative lack of danger from Wi-Fi. Also special to this weeks' podcast, Victor interviews Sonny Vu, former CEO of Misfit, the wearables and IoT company about what he's working on next.
Foxconn is aiming at a $4.3 billion initial public offering for Foxconn Industrial Internet, a manufacturing arm specializing in things like servers and IoT accessories.
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Roger Fingas
Andrew O'Hara
Malcolm Owen
William Gallagher
Mike Wuerthele
Victor Marks
Stephen Silver
