iPhone assembly operations in China are beginning to reduce their energy consumption because of a sudden power crunch in the country, which has triggered government-imposed curbs on a range of businesses.
Pegatron Corp (和碩), a key partner for Apple Inc and one of the assemblers of its iPhone, said yesterday that it’s taking energy-saving measures to comply with local government policies.
Regardless, the firms responsible for producing the Apple handset have avoided drastic cutbacks in production so far and appear to be getting preferential access to energy in order to keep operations going, people familiar with the situation said.
Photo courtesy of Pegatron Corp via CNA
Pegatron’s iPhone facility in the eastern city of Kunshan will be only modestly affected, two of the sources said, asking not to be named because the information is not public.
There has been no major impact on the nearby Luxshare Precision Industry Co (立訊精密) iPhone assembly unit, and the company continues to ready key products for shipment in line with its original schedule, one of the people said.
Curbs on industrial energy use have been imposed across several provinces, including economic powerhouses Jiangsu and Guangdong, as Chinese officials pursue Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) carbon-neutral push and react to escalating coal and gas prices.
The continued operations of Apple suppliers suggest that Beijing might be giving exceptions to the advanced manufacturing sector from its power sanctions.
Pegatron’s iPhone production facility in Shanghai and Hon Hai Precision Industry Co’s (鴻海精密) key Apple handset manufacturing base in Zhengzhou — known as iPhone City — have continued uninterrupted, several of the sources said.
Pegatron has been adopting measures to save water and energy over the past few years, “and there is a comprehensive response program for the current situation to reduce the impact on our operations and production capacity,” the company said in a texted statement.
While the iPhone supply chain appears resilient for now, executives at major Apple suppliers are closely monitoring developments, according to the sources.
Exports remain a key growth driver for China, with Hon Hai and other tech hardware manufacturers being the country’s top exporters and among its biggest employers.
PATENTS: MediaTek Inc said it would not comment on ongoing legal cases, but does not expect the legal action by Huawei to affect its business operations Smartphone integrated chips designer MediaTek Inc (聯發科) on Friday said that a lawsuit filed by Chinese smartphone brand Huawei Technologies Co (華為) over alleged patent infringements would have little impact on its operations. In an announcement posted on the Taiwan Stock Exchange, MediaTek said that it would not comment on an ongoing legal case. However, the company said that Huawei’s legal action would have little impact on its operations. MediaTek’s statement came after China-based PRIP Research said on Thursday that Huawei filed a lawsuit with a Chinese district court claiming that MediaTek infringed on its patents. The infringement mentioned in the lawsuit likely involved
Taipei is today suspending work, classes and its US$2.4 trillion stock market as Typhoon Gaemi approaches Taiwan with strong winds and heavy rain. The nation is not conducting securities, currency or fixed income trading, statements from its stock and currency exchanges said. Authorities had yesterday issued a warning that the storm could affect people on land and canceled some ship crossings and domestic flights. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) expects its local chipmaking fabs to maintain normal production, the company said in an e-mailed statement. The main chipmaker for Apple Inc and Nvidia Corp said it has activated routine typhoon alert
GROWTH: TSMC increased its projected revenue growth for this year to more than 25 percent, citing stronger-than-expected demand for AI devices and smartphones The Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER, 台灣經濟研究院) yesterday raised its forecast for Taiwan’s GDP growth this year from 3.29 percent to 3.85 percent, as exports and private investment recovered faster than it predicted three months ago. The Taipei-based think tank also expects that Taiwan would see a 8.19 percent increase in exports this year, better than the 7.55 percent it projected in April, as US technology giants spent more money on artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure and development. “There will be more AI servers going forward, but it remains to be seen if the momentum would extend to personal computers, smartphones and
Catastrophic computer outages caused by a software update from one company have once again exposed the dangers of global technological dependence on a handful of players, experts said on Friday. A flawed update sent out by the little-known security firm CrowdStrike Holdings Inc brought airlines, TV stations and myriad other aspects of daily life to a standstill. The outages affected companies or individuals that use CrowdStrike on the Microsoft Inc’s Windows platform. When they applied the update, the incompatible software crashed computers into a frozen state known as the “blue screen of death.” “Today CrowdStrike has become a household name, but not in