India Wistron iPhone plant reopening after December riots
Apple has announced that production has restarted at assembly partner Wistron's Narasapura, India facility after December riots shut it down — but the company is still under probation.
Apple has announced that production has restarted at assembly partner Wistron's Narasapura, India facility after December riots shut it down — but the company is still under probation.
Apple assembly partner Pegatron's board may have given the all-clear to invest $150 million into its first production facilities in India, an operation that could be used for iPhone production in late 2021.
Apple supplier Foxlink will begin ramping up cable production later in 2020 from a new plant in India, as manufacturers hurry to set up a supply chain outside China.
Component suppliers are reporting that Apple is increasing its orders for MacBook Pro parts in a supply chain pressured by demand from more people working at home.
Apple assembly partner Pegatron is considering a diversification of its production facilities with a new operation in Vietnam, a plan that would help move some of its manufacturing outside of China and potentially mitigating any future issues over US-China trade tensions.
The Mac Pro may be celebrated by some customers as being an American-made product, but shipments in Europe are assembled in China.
The Indian government has announced that Apple is increasing its local operations and in addition to iPhones, will also be making components and chargers in the country.
After Foxconn violated Chinese labor laws in regards to temporary worker volume, Apple has investigated and is working to resolve the situation.
After six years of manufacturing the cylindrical Mac Pro in Texas, Apple has shifted production of the new Mac Pro abroad to China, even as trade tensions escalate between the U.S. and China.
A custom screw easily sourced in China held up the Mac Pro build process in Texas, with the tale highlighting one of the problems Apple faces if it moves iPhone and Mac assembly back to America.
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.
Finisar, the producer of laser scanners used to power Apple's Face ID system on its iPhones, has been acquired by optical system producer II-VI Incorporated, in a purchase said to be worth approximately $3.2 billion.
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.
Samsung has commenced production of chips using a 7-nanometer process, a move that brings it in line with Apple's A-series chip partner TSMC, giving the iPhone supplier potential competition for future iPhone processor orders.
Huawei may be the second smartphone producer to use processors made using a 7-nanometer process, following Apple's use of the A12 chip in the iPhone XS, with the designed-in-house Kirin 980 processor thought to be using the same production process as Apple.
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.
Apple is considering ways to improve the iPhone's battery life by changing the technology used in its displays, according to one analytics firm, with a switch to LTPO for the backplane potentially cutting down the amount of power required to update the screen.
Apple views aluminum from a new more environmentally friendly venture with Alcoa and Rio Tinto as part of its device production in the future.
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