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☆ China's 2022 smartphone shipments the lowest in 10 years - research firm
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

SHANGHAI, Jan 29 (Reuters) - China's smartphone sales fell 13% year-on-year in 2022, the largest plunge for the sector in a decade as consumers spent cautiously, market research firm IDC said on Sunday. That meant total 2022 sales volume was the lowest since 2013 and the first time since then that annual sales have dropped below 300 million, IDC said in a report. Its total shipments fell 25.1% year-on-year, however. The plunge in smartphone sales in China reflected the sector's performance globally. In 2022, global smartphone shipments hit 1.2 billion, the lowest since 2013 and a year-on-year fall of more than 11%, according to IDC.

☆ Taiwan's Foxconn and others accelerate investment in Mexico - Nikkei
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Jan 24 (Reuters) - Foxconn (2317.TW) and other Taiwanese tech suppliers are increasing their production capacity in Mexico to meet a growing demand for electric vehicles (EVs) and servers to be made in North America, Nikkei Asia reported on Tuesday. Mexico is one of the key locations for the Foxconn's strategic investments this year, according to the report, citing a person with direct knowledge of the matter. Foxconn, the world's biggest contract electronics manufacturer and a key iPhone assembler, will have local manufacturing options in Ohio, Wisconsin and Mexico for EV clients, the report added. Reporting by Shivani Tanna in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi AichOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Apple supplier Foxconn replaces iPhone business chief- Bloomberg News
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Jan 17 (Reuters) - Taiwan's Foxconn (2317.TW) has appointed Michael Chiang as the new boss for its iPhone assembly business after a tumultuous year in China, Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter. Chiang replaces longtime leader Wang Charng-yang as head of the iPhone assembly division, the Bloomberg report said. Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Chiang's appointment is part of Foxconn Chairman Young Liu's efforts to elevate younger executives to maintain the company's supply chain leadership in the face of growing competition from Chinese contenders, the Bloomberg report said. Reporting by Lavanya Ahire in Bengaluru; Editing by Dhanya Ann Thoppil and Nivedita BhattacharjeeOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Barclays cuts Apple price target on concerns over demand weakness, slowing services growth
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( Ashley Capoot | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Barclays recently cut its Apple price target from $144 per share to $133 per share, noting it's concerned that Apple Services estimates are "at risk." The firm lowered its revenue estimate by 7% for the quarter to account for slowing services growth, production problems and weakening demand. "What started out as production driven cuts has moved to demand weakness across product categories," they wrote in a Tuesday note. Apple struggled with iPhone 14 Pro shipments during the holiday season because of Covid restrictions on its primary factory in China. Foxconn has attempted to entice workers back with bonuses, and Reuters reported that Foxconn's Zhengzhou factory is almost back to full production.

☆ Protesters clash with police at antigen kit maker factory in China
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

SHANGHAI, Jan 8 (Reuters) - Protesters clashed with police in central China during a demonstration on Saturday by hundreds of people at a factory producing COVID-19 antigen kits, several videos posted to social media showed. Online users said the protest was over wages and the layoff of several workers by the manufacturer, Zybio, in the central municipality of Chongqing. One video showed people throwing traffic cones, boxes and stools at police carrying riot shields. Another video, posted on social media platforms such as Twitter and Douyin, showed dozens of protesters chanting "return our money". Protests are not rare in China, which has over the years seen people demonstrate over issues such as financial scams or labour disputes.

☆ Apple supplier Luxshare rises after reportedly winning contract to produce luxury iPhones
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( Jihye Lee | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

The Apple iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Pro, and iPhone Pro Max on sale at the company's Fifth Avenue store in New York, US, on Friday, Sept. 16, 2022. Photographer: Jeenah Moon/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesShares of Luxshare Precision Industry , one of Apple's Chinese contract manufacturers, rose more than 3% in Asia's trade after the Financial Times reported the supplier is set to sign a contract to produce premium iPhones. The move comes after rival Foxconn halted production lines in Zhengzhou following protests over China's stringent Covid measures over a month ago. The Financial Times reported Luxshare has already produced "small amounts" of the iPhone 14 Pro Max since November to make up for Foxconn's lost production. Apple and Luxshare did not immediately respond to CNBC's request for comment.

☆ Apple has enlisted one of Foxconn's biggest rivals to help build iPhones after worker unrest led to production delays, report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( Sawdah Bhaimiya | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Apple has enlisted one of Foxconn's biggest rivals, Luxshare, to help build iPhones, the FT reports. Foxconn is Apple's largest iPhone supplier, but has been hampered by worker protests at its biggest facility. Insider contacted Apple, Foxconn, and Luxshare for comment on the FT's report, but did not receive a response. According to a Bloomberg report in late November, the protests risked a six million device shortage in iPhone Pro production. Foxconn is Apple's biggest iPhone supplier, and has traditionally had the coveted responsibility of producing new iPhone Pro models.

☆ Apple to sign Luxshare for iPhone production in China - FT
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Luxshare, which was founded in 2004, became an Apple supplier in 2011 and has steadily moved up the hardware giant's value chain, from making connector cables for the iPhone and Macbook to manufacturing Airpods. Analysts expected Apple to diversify its supplier base amid production disruptions in China due to employee unrest at a factory operated by Foxconn and COVID-19 induced lockdowns. Apple in November warned of lower shipments of its premium iPhone 14 models following significant production cuts. Industry research firm TrendForce said on Saturday that Apple decided to employ Luxshare as one of the assemblers for the upcoming iPhone 15 Pro Max. TrendForce added that Luxshare's only iPhone assembly plant is located in China and it doesn't plan on setting up an iPhone production line at its Vietnam plant where it assembles Apple accessories.

☆ China risks loom over U.S. tech giants Tesla and Apple as share prices plunge
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-04 | by ( Arjun Kharpal | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

But in October, the world's biggest iPhone factory in Zhengzhou, China, was hit with a Covid outbreak. Reuters reported on Tuesday that Foxconn's Zhengzhou factory is almost back to full production. In early November, after Foxconn imposed Covid restrictions at the factory, Apple said the plant was operating at a "significantly reduced capacity." The world's biggest iPhone factory, located in China and run by Foxconn, faced disruptions in 2022. Apple could report a 1% annual decline in revenue in the December quarter, according to Refinitiv consensus estimates.

☆ Foxconn's COVID-hit China plant close to resuming full production -sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-03 | by ( Yimou Lee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

TAIPEI, Jan 3 (Reuters) - Foxconn's COVID-hit iPhone plant in China's Zhengzhou city is almost back to full production, with its December shipments reaching about 90% of initial plans, two people with direct knowledge of the matter said. A company source told Reuters last month that it was aiming for the plant to resume full production around late December to early January. "Production has almost fully resumed," said one of the people on Tuesday, who declined to be identified as the information was private. The second person said production was nearly back to normal but that company officials remained cautious over the outlook due to a spike of COVID-19 cases across China. The Zhengzhou plant's troubles highlighted the difficulties companies and workers had in adhering to China's zero-COVID-19 policy.

☆ Foxconn's COVID-hit China plant close to resuming full production, sources say
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-03 | by ( Yimou Lee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

☆ Foxconn's Covid-hit China plant close to resuming full production, sources say
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-03 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Foxconn's Covid-hit iPhone plant in China's Zhengzhou city is almost back to full production, with its December shipments reaching about 90% of initial plans, two people with direct knowledge of the matter said. It was also hit by a bout of worker unrest over payment issues. Foxconn has been offering bonuses to attract new workers and convince those still there to stay on. A company source told Reuters last month that it was aiming for the plant to resume full production around late December to early January. "Production has almost fully resumed," said one of the people on Tuesday, who declined to be identified as the information was private.

☆ Foxconn Zhengzhou plant's Dec shipments hit 90% of original target - source
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

TAIPEI, Jan 3 (Reuters) - December shipments from Foxconn's (2317.TW) Zhengzhou iPhone plant in China were 90% of the firm's initial plans, a source with direct knowledge of the matter said, as the facility strives to recover from its COVID-induced woes. Foxconn declined to comment. The world's largest iPhone manufacturing facility was hit late last year by a COVID-19 outbreak that prompted worker departures and unrest as well as production disruptions. Reporting by Yimou Lee in Taipei, Writing by Brenda Goh; Editing by Christian SchmollingerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ China state media plays down severity of COVID wave before WHO meeting
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-03 | by ( Bernard Orr | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

The World Health Organization on Friday urged China's health officials to regularly share specific and real-time information on the COVID situation. The agency has invited Chinese scientists to present detailed data on viral sequencing at a meeting of a technical advisory group scheduled for Tuesday. The European Union has offered free COVID vaccines to China to help contain the outbreak, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday. China has rejected criticism of its COVID data and said any new mutations may be more infectious but less harmful. Data on Tuesday showed China's factory activity shrank at a sharper pace in December as the COVID wave disrupted production and hurt demand.

☆ China state media plays down COVID wave severity before WHO meet
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-03 | by ( Bernard Orr | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

☆ There's a growing chance your next electric car will be built by the same company as your iPhone
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-18 | by ( Tim Levin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

It's making deals to build cars for electric-vehicle startups — and someday wants to build cars for Tesla. Foxconn, the Taiwanese electronics giant that assembles all manner of popular devices including the iPhone, iPad, Kindle, and Nintendo Switch, is diving head-first into the world of electric vehicles. Foxconn unveiled an electric pickup truck prototype in October. Lordstown Motors just recently started shipping out Foxconn-made electric pickup trucks to customers. Volkswagen is considering hiring Foxconn to build its new Scout-branded electric SUV and pickup truck destined for US buyers, Germany's Automobilwoche reported in November.

☆ India is trying to become the new factory of the world, but it could take more than a global pandemic to unseat China from its 40-year reign
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( Huileng Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

But it isn't easy to fully replace China's supply chain ecosystem in any country — even one as vast as India. "India has a large labor pool, a long history of manufacturing, and government support for boosting industry and exports. Data irregularities improved China's position in 2018, according to a World Bank audit published in December 2020. India also has a history of protectionism, which makes it less competitive in terms of attracting large investments. That's precisely because they want to diversify, from having dependency on one country, like China, to a couple of locations."

☆ Foxconn's COVID-hit China plant lifts "closed-loop" management curbs
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, Dec 8 (Reuters) - HONG KONG, Dec 8 (Reuters) - Apple supplier Foxconn's (2317.TW) COVID-hit Zhengzhou facility in China has lifted its "closed-loop" management curbs on Thursday, it said in a statement posted on its WeChat account. The Zhengzhou industrial park where Foxconn's plant locates has been under a so-called closed-loop system that isolated the plant from the wider world for 56 days, the statement said. Its Zhengzhou plant was in October hit by a COVID-19 outbreak that prompted it to impose tough restrictions that involved isolating many staff. Foxconn could have seen more than 30% of the Zhengzhou site's November production affected, Reuters reported last month citing a source familiar with the matter. The company's November revenue fell 11.4% year on year reflecting production problems related to COVID controls at the major iPhone factory.

☆ Apple supplier Foxconn reportedly helped convince China to loosen Covid rules
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Lauren Feiner | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

A man passes by a compound of the electronics manufacturer Foxconn in Shenzhen on Saturday, Sept. 3, 2022. The founder of China-based Apple supplier Foxconn helped convince the country's leaders to loosen the Covid restrictions that led to protests in China, The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday. Gou's letter helped Chinese health officials and government advisers make the case for accelerated easing of Covid restrictions, the Journal reported, citing unnamed sources. Read the full story at The Wall Street Journal. WATCH: iPhone workers in China revolt against Foxconn and zero-Covid policy

☆ Apple supplier Foxconn pushed China to ease COVID curbs - WSJ
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Dec 8 (Reuters) - Apple supplier Foxconn's (2317.TW) founder-director Terry Gou had warned China that the government's zero-COVID stance would threaten the position of the world's second-largest economy in the global supply chain, the Wall Street Journal reported. The Taiwan-based company's Zhengzhou plant, which saw a month-long unrest in November, has lifted its "closed-loop" management curbs on Thursday. The Zhengzhou plant had been grappling with strict COVID restrictions that fuelled discontent among workers over factory conditions, triggering an 11.4% year-on-year drop in November revenue. Some Wall Street analysts cut their iPhone shipment targets for the all-important holiday quarter as a result of turmoil at the major iPhone factory. Reporting by Chavi Mehta in Bengaluru; Additional reporting by Sarah Wu; Editing by Sherry Jacob-PhillipsOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Piper Sandler cuts estimates for Apple's Dec quarter as China worries mount
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Dec 1 (Reuters) - Analysts at Piper Sandler on Thursday cut their revenue and iPhone sales estimates for Apple Inc's (AAPL.O) December quarter, as Beijing's strict lockdowns crimp production at the world's biggest iPhone factory in Zhengzhou, China. The brokerage now expects $119 billon in revenue for the current quarter from an earlier projection of $127.3 billion, with iPhone unit sales of about 74 million against 83 million previously expected. "More than 50% of assembled iPhones come from Foxconn's (2317.TW) Zhengzhou plant. Production woes for Apple were heightened by a rare example of large-scale labour unrest in China, where Foxconn workers clashed with security personnel in Zhengzhou. Apple might prioritize iPhone 14 Pro production over other models, the brokerage said, given the higher average selling price for the product.

HONG KONG, Dec 1 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Covid-19 lockdowns and protests across China have highlighted the risks of the mutual dependence between Taiwan's Foxconn and its top customer Apple (AAPL.O). It makes 70% of the world’s iPhones, according to Fubon Research. Meanwhile Apple’s huge investments into Foxconn have paid off: the U.S. company is the most profitable smartphone maker by far. Foxconn has been scrambling to contain the fallout, offering bonuses to temporary workers and shifting production to other facilities. At the time, Foxconn said it was bringing the situation under control and was coordinating with other plants to increase production.

☆ Analysis: Apple supply chain data shows receding exposure to China as risks mount
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Josh Horwitz | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

SHANGHAI, Nov 30 (Reuters) - Apple Inc's (AAPL.O) wide exposure to Chinese manufacturing, notable both for its low costs and rising risks, has receded since the COVID-19 pandemic began, company supply chain data shows. "The China supply chain is not going to evaporate overnight," said Eli Friedman, an associate professor at Cornell University who studies labour in China. The Apple supplier data to 2021, however, shows no locations so far that stand out as substantial gainers to match China's decline, according to the Reuters analysis. Apple's annual data covers more than 600 locations among its top suppliers, which represent 98% of Apple's direct spending. While Apple's shift from China is increasingly evident, including in its own supply chain data, so too are the risks from the concentration of operations there.

☆ Apple supplier Foxconn is using cash bonuses to tempt people to work at its iPhone City after COVID protests gutted its staff
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Sawdah Bhaimiya | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Apple supplier Foxconn is offering $141 dollars for successful staff referrals, Reuters reported. Foxconn is attempting to lure new staff to the so-called "iPhone City" after protests saw large numbers of workers leave. Apple is facing a shortfall of nearly 6 million iPhones this year because of protests. Apple is facing a shortfall of nearly six million iPhone Pros this year due to the protests against China's zero-COVID policy. To lure workers back, the firm is now offering $1,800 bonuses to some workers to continue working at the factory.

[1/4] FILE PHOTO: The logo of Foxconn is seen outside the company's building in Taipei, Taiwan November 10, 2022. The plant owned by Taiwan-based Foxconn, battered by China's strict COVID restrictions and facing critical year-end holiday demand, was offering enticing hiring bonuses and excellent pay. Hou said he was promised up to 30,000 yuan ($4,200) for just under four months' work - far above the 12,000-16,000 yuan Foxconn workers usually get for four months. In a rare example of large-scale labour unrest in China, Foxconn workers in COVID masks clashed with security personnel in white hazmat suits holding plastic shields. The company previously apologised to workers for a pay-related "technical error" that it said occurred when it was hiring.

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