Hasta La Gadget!

Earlier today we reported that one of Apple’s suppliers based in China, Pegatron, has been accused of worker abuse. The allegations were leveled by China Labor Watch, a New York based non-profit. Its report indicates that the initial production of iPhone Lite, also known as the low cost iPhone, has already begun at Pegatron. The report has a section titled “A day in Pegatron,” in which a worker describers their activities at the Pegatron factory.

The worker’s account is of July 9th, when they had to “paste protective film on the iPhone’s plastic back cover to prevent it from being scratched on assembly lines.” If you’ve been following the barrage of rumors about the iPhone Lite, you’ll know that it is expected to have a plastic back cover. The worker has also been cited as saying that mass production of this device hasn’t begun yet, but they believe that it will be released in the market soon. The report says that apart from building iPhone 4, iPhone 4S and iPhone 5, Pegatron is also tasked with building “low-priced plastic iPhones” for Apple. Everything that’s mentioned in this particular section of this report lines up with all of the rumors we have been hearing about iPhone Lite. Apple is expected to announce it this September.

Like It , +1 , Tweet It , Pin It | iPhone Lite Initial Production Underway At Pegatron, Labor Report Indicates original content from Ubergizmo.

A report from New York-based China Labor Watch has raised concerns over a new wave of worker abuse among Apple suppliers.

Read more…

Hon Hai, better known in the west as the iPhone maker Foxconn, seems to be doing just fine after allegedly losing some orders from Apple to competitor Pegatron in September 2012. According to Bloomberg, the company’s second quarter revenues hit $30 billion, up 0.6 percent from the same quarter a year ago. That’s far better than the 19 percent drop it experienced during the first quarter. While there’s no guidance as to Q3 figures, we’ve got to think that an iPhone 5S can help fill those coffers.

Comments

Via: The Next Web

Source: Bloomberg

It would appear that the order for the next-generation devices in both smartphone and tablet form have hit the manufacturing line Pegatron if reports today hold steady. The folks at Pegatron have more than once been suggested to be taking on more Apple orders of late, with the first iPad mini and the “budget” iPhone

Read The Full Story

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.