Key Apple Inc manufacturing partner Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), has appointed a new boss for its iPhone assembly business after a tumultuous year in China, highlighting the company’s efforts to ready a new generation of leaders to help it navigate a post-COVID-19 world.
Michael Chiang (蔣集恆) was first identified in his new role at Hon Hai’s annual year-end party on Sunday, succeeding longtime leader Wang Charng-yang (王城陽) as head of the division responsible for iPhone assembly.
Chiang was recently promoted to chief of the A business group, as Wang steps back to focus on a role on the board, people familiar with the matter said.
Photo: Ann Wang, Reuters
The appointment is part of efforts by Hon Hai chairman Young Liu (劉揚偉) to elevate younger executives to maintain the company’s supply chain leadership in the face of growing competition from Chinese contenders.
The company might also face new rivals in India as Apple seeks to further diversify its production footprint following pandemic-
related supply snarls and draconian restrictions that wrought havoc on device output in China.
Chiang is a longtime Hon Hai manager who has helped the company meet the high standards Apple requires, one of the people said.
Wang, who was appointed to Hon Hai’s board in the summer of last year, remains a director and his departure from the iPhone operations role is not connected to the COVID-19-related output disruptions the company suffered last year, the people said.
When the company encountered unprecedented worker unrest at its main iPhone campus in Zhengzhou, China, late last year, Chiang played a pivotal role in communicating with the local government and making sure Apple’s demands would be satisfied, one of the people said.
The appointment highlights Liu’s efforts in the past few years to foster a younger group of executives to help the firm navigate prolonged tensions between Washington and Beijing, diversify its manufacturing bases outside of China and fend off Chinese challengers, including Luxshare Precision Industry Co (立訊精密).
Liu took over from founder Terry Gou (郭台銘) and became Hon Hai chairman in 2019. Since then, he has been filling key positions with younger employees by recruiting seasoned hands externally and promoting staff internally, with Chiang being the most high-profile appointment he has made so far.
Separately, AUO Corp (友達) and Innolux Cop (群創) are offering preferential retirement packages for senior employees, as the companies aim to rejuvenate their workforce and shift away from pure display panel manufacturing.
Employees aged 70 years or older at AUO and 65 or older at Innolux are encouraged to apply for special retirement programs, the companies have said.
Both companies have said they would better manage costs and scrap capacity expansion plans, with an aim to retain more cash to steer through difficult times.
AUO and Innolux saw third-quarter losses widen to NT$10.43 billion and NT$12.75 billion (US$344 million and US$420.6 million) respectively, as panel prices slumped amid sluggish demand for PC and TV panels.
The outlook for the industry looks dismal, with TV panel shipments this year forecast to contract 2.8 percent annually to 264 million units due to soaring inflation worldwide and the prolonged war between Russia and Ukraine, market researcher TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said on Monday.
Flat-panel makers should better control their factory utilization if they intend to return to the black this year, TrendForce said.
Any irrational capacity expansion would make it difficult to bring the supply-demand back to balance, it said.
Additional reporting by Lisa Wang
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