May 30
May 29
As we noted yesterday, Apple’s Tim Cook hinted that variations of the iPhone, such as versions that fall at different price points, could be in the company’s future. Rumors of a low-cost iPhone have been circulating for months now, with at one point Apple’s Phil Schiller saying such a device will never have a future in the company’s products. Despite that, the rumor is still alive, and today sources told the Wall Street Journal that a low-cost iPhone is expected to be made available later this year.
The alleged cheaper iPhone will primarily be assembled by Pegatron Corporation, with Apple shifting some more of its supply chain load to the lesser-known Chinese company. Pegatron has already dabbled in Apple manufacturing, having produced some iPhones in 2011, as well as some iPad mini tablets in 2012 and even iBooks in days gone by. Such a shift from heavily relying on Foxconn, which has long been a staple of Apple, represents risk diversification.
Foxconn ran into some problems late last year with the iPhone 5, having experienced problems meeting demand for the smartphone, with customers having to wait weeks before they received the device. Such issues make efforts in risk diversification an obvious step for the company, but the sources who provided the information said that growing competition from Samsung and others has also prompted the change.
Others reasons were also cited, including less financial incentive to stick with Foxconn in light of work condition improvements that are cutting into the overall financial picture. On the flip side, Pegatron is willing to manufacture for Apple with less profit that Foxconn requires. Says sources, Apple and Foxconn are also taking on a bit of an antagonistic stance with each other, with the fruit-logo’d company finding Foxconn harder to control and Foxconn finding Apple’s products increasingly harder to assemble.
That doesn’t mean Foxconn head Terry Gou and Apple’s Tim Cook aren’t still on good terms, says the sources, with both still having a “strong relationship.” Such reported changes are the result of necessary business conditions, although nothing official has been confirmed, with neither Apple, Foxconn, nor Pegatron willing to comment on the matter.
SOURCE: WSJ
Apple pushing supply chain load from Foxconn to Pegatron, says sources is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
May 28
Apple‘s tussle for market share with Samsung has forced Foxconn to consider launching its own brand of accessories, sources claim, as the long-time iPhone manufacturing partner hunts alternative sources of income. “Limited order growth” among Foxconn‘s bigger clients has been blamed for the strategy shift, one Hon Hai executive told the WSJ, with sources claiming that the company is no longer satisfied with contract manufacturing and instead wants to leverage its own brand. Another possibility is white-label content supply, branching out into media Foxconn would supply to its existing customers.
For instance, one strand of the company’s new strategy is to “supply content for all of the devices it assembles” an unnamed executive told the newspaper. That’s prompted a hiring spree of software engineers in Taiwan, who are being brought in to focus Foxconn’s efforts on developing mobile apps, cloud-computing tech, and even smartwatch applications, foreseeing a greater emphasis on wearables in the future.
Meanwhile, Foxconn could also push its own range of devices, rather than simply manufacturing hardware for other companies. That will use its own branding, with the initial line-up said to include computing basics such as keyboards, cables, and headphones.
However, Apple-specific gadgets are likely to follow. “Chairman [Terry Gou] has ordered all business units to produce peripheral accessories of electronics products as it is more profitable than assembly services” an unnamed executive revealed. “We also plan to license Apple’s technology to make some own-brand accessories that are compatible with iPhones and iPads.”
The push isn’t a half-hearted one, either. According to the insiders, Hon Hai intends to sell its Foxconn-branded hardware not only online but in a new chain of physical stores, albeit initially only in China. A spokesperson confirmed Chinese retail strategy was being explored, but declined to comment on specific plans.
Foxconn’s over-arching problem is that its key clients simply aren’t growing in the same way that they once were. Sales declined 19-percent in the first quarter of 2013, blamed in no small part on a leveling out of orders for Apple’s iPhone.
“As our production capacity has grown to such a large scale and existing major-brand customers offer limited order growth, we need to actively expand our client base to help increase our manufacturing volume” Unnamed Hon Hai executive
At the same time, the growing appeal of “Made in USA” products has seen Foxconn expand its production facilities to North America, with some of Apple’s new Macs expected to be produced by the company in Texas. However, that’s a more expensive process than the relatively low-cost equivalent in Taiwan, where Foxconn has made paring back expenses an art-form, albeit one which has attracted the criticism of human rights organizations.
Apple is estimated to account for half of Hon Hai’s revenue, and it’s possible that the anticipated Mac refresh for WWDC 2013 could give the assembly firm a jolt.
Foxconn own-brand expansion tipped as Apple orders plateau is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
May 27
Foxconn and Mozilla join hands over Firefox OS, may show off new devices next week
Posted in: Today's Chili
In a Chinese invitation we received earlier today, Foxconn Technology Group and Mozilla confirmed an upcoming press conference that will detail and make their Firefox OS partnership official. The event will take place in Taipei next Monday (just a few days before Computex truly kicks off), and it’ll see Mozilla welcome the 19th partner to its Firefox OS alliance. There isn’t much meat in the email, though we did spot a little hint in the rundown that says one or more of the “latest” Firefox OS products will be on show. Whatever they may be, we shall keep an eye out for them as soon as we land in Terry Gou’s back garden next week.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile
Via: Focus Taiwan
May 27
May 22
Apple announced back in December that they would be making some of their Mac computers in the US, but they didn’t specify where exactly the machines would be made. However, during an appearance before the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, Apple CEO Tim Cook said that made-in-USA Macs will be manufactured in Texas.
During the hearing, Cook noted that the company would be “investing $100 million to build a Mac product line here in the US.” Furthermore, “the product will be assembled in Texas, include components made in Illinois and Florida, and rely on equipment produced in Kentucky and Michigan,” hinting that Apple will rely on various manufacturing partners to make the US-made Mac a reality.
This means that Apple won’t be building their own manufacturing facilities, but will rely on other companies to do so. For example, Foxconn just recently set up shop in Texas as well, so Apple will most likely continue to use Foxconn to assemble the new Macs, rather than build their own plants to assemble them.
Of course, this isn’t too surprising, and while it’s not confirmed that Apple will use Foxconn’s Texas facility, it seems like a viable option at this point. However, we’re curious about Cook’s mention of other partners located in Kentucky, Michigan, Illinois, and Florida. We’re guessing these unmentioned companies will provide various components, which means that Apple won’t be using foreign components from the looks of it.
However, it’s still up in the air on what Macs will be made in the US exactly. It’s been rumored that the Mac mini or Mac Pro will be the ones to get the honor, since they’re the least in demand compared to the iMac, which means that Apple won’t need to push out a lot of units. Thus, the company won’t need to pay a lot of money to have them manufactured on domestic soil.
VIA: AllThingsD
Apple to build US Macs in Texas, Foxconn most likely to assemble is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
May 18
Foxconn has come under fire repeatedly, fueled by several worker suicides and threats of suicides, as well as protests and its eventual installation of nets to catch employees who jump from the roof. Because of the criticism, the Chinese manufacturer – which supplies some Apple devices, among others – agreed to over 300 terms set forth by Apple after a Fair Labor Association investigation. While some things have changed, the latest report shows that employees are still being overworked.
Apple joined the Fair Labor Association in 2012 after being slammed with criticism over the working conditions at Foxconn. This prompted Apple and the Chinese company to set forth 360 items to take action on, such as things like correcting issues with a working environment that is too hot, the installation of an adequate number of fire escapes, and more. Thus far, according to a report released yesterday, Foxconn has met 98.3-percent of them.
One of the issues that is still causing grief, however, are working hours, with the report showing that employees are still being forced to work longer than allowed by Chinese labor laws. Per Apple, its suppliers are to have employees work no more than 60 hours every week. Chinese law says that 40 hours weekly is the cap, however, and that overtime can’t amount to more than 36 hours monthly. After being met with criticism, Apple and Foxconn agreed that its workers would be capped at 40 hours per week.
This hasn’t been the case, however. All three facilities had their workers clocking in up to 60 hours a week, with the spat late last year during which the iPhone was released hitting 70 hours a week. According to the Foxconn agreement, the new hour changes wouldn’t be completely implemented until July of this year, giving it a little over a month to correct the issue.
Another area of concern is unions, which have been positively impacted, showing a 20-percent increase in worker representatives over the last report. Said the Fair Labor Association’s President and CEO Auret van Heerden, “When FLA first visited Foxconn last year, the union committees – like those at most other factories in China – were dominated by management. By this time next year, we expect worker participation to be even higher.”
SOURCE: Wall Street Journal
Foxconn continues to violate Chinese labor laws says report is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
May 09
May 08
Quad-core smart TVs? Move over, Samsung and Haier, because another company’s now joining the party. At a press event in Beijing yesterday, Chinese video content provider LeTV announced its first TV series dubbed “Super TV.” Despite the cheesy name, there are a handful of big names behind it: Kai-Fu Lee’s Innovation Works, Qualcomm, Foxconn and Sharp. The last two aren’t surprising considering Foxconn’s parent company, Hon Hai, is an investor of Sharp as well as LeTV. It’s also worth noting, though, that Hon Hai already has a deal with RadioShack to make and sell a 60-inch TV, the RS60-V1, in China since January.
The flagship X60 (pictured above at GMIC Beijing) features an aluminum alloy body that encases Sharp’s 10th-generation 60-inch 1080p panel — as featured on the RadioShack TV — with 120Hz 3D, on top of a 1.7GHz quad-core Snapdragon S4 Prime MPQ8064 (with 2GB of RAM and Adreno 320 graphics), dual-band WiFi and S/PDIF optical output. You can also add an optional 2.4GHz gyroscopic remote control and a PrimeSense motion sensor just for giggles. But most importantly, LeTV now streams over 2,000 TV apps as well as some 90,000 TV episodes and 5,000 movies for free (LeTV claims to own the rights to 95 percent of the video content). So, the ¥6,999 or $1,140 price tag seems a steal for the X60. There will also be a 39-inch 1080p (likely 2D only), dual-core S40 model priced at ¥1,999 or about $330, and both TVs will be available by the end of June.
Gallery: LeTV Super TV X60 and S40
Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD
Via: Engadget Chinese
Source: LeTV
May 07
Foxconn, Apple’s long time manufacturing partner based in China, is not in the news today for its workers committing suicide or being paid low wages while being made to work 12 hour shifts. Foxconn is now being seen as shifting its strategies to end its reliance on Apple, which has been a big customer for quite a while. Jamie Wang, an analyst at Gartner, says that Foxconn believes Apple’s “aura” isn’t what it supposed to be and that they need more than just Apple’s business if they want substantial growth in the future.
Foxconn also manufactures products for Amazon, Dell, Hewlett Packard as well as other American companies, but Apple by far provides it the most business. Its obvious that decline in iPad and iPhone shipments will result in Apple placing less orders for units to be manufactured. Foxconn reported that their revenue was down 19.2% last quarter as opposed to the same time last year, primarily because Apple’s orders weren’t as high as they used to be. Foxconn’s debut in the consumer product developing niche starts from large, flat-screen HD televisions. The company’s spokesman has said that they’ve sold 20,000 60-inch television sets in Taiwan, surely that won’t rake in as much revenue as Apple brings in for it, but its not exactly like Foxconn is cutting the cord with Cupertino altogether. The spokesman declined to say how many units Foxconn has sold through retail partners. This could be their contingency plan, perhaps we’ll see them venture in to other product lines as well, smartphones maybe?
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Stairwell Illusion Will Make You Question The Law Of Physics, Latest Google Drive Update Makes Sharing On Desktop Easier, 
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