Apple Stock News: Apple Supplier Ramps Up Hiring for iPhone 14 Production
Apple Stock News: Foxconn, Apple’s main assembly partner, reportedly launched a massive recruitment drive for its Zhengzhou plant this week, even though the season is usually off-peak for iPhone production. The company is said to have increased bonuses by 30% to attract more staff to meet Apple’s pressing needs.
Apple’s directive to increase hiring at this time of year ostensibly stems from the continued strong demand for the iPhone 13 lineup and growing concerns about the impact of China’s blockade on demand for the iPhone 14 in the second half of the year. Zhengzhou has so far been largely unaffected by the lockdown, encouraging Foxconn to increase capacity at its plants.
Apple’s MacBook Pro Supplier Resumes Production at Shanghai Plant
Apple supplier Quanta is gradually resuming MacBook production at its Chinese factory after the lockdown was lifted in Shanghai. Orders at production facilities will be slowly picking up, which should improve the availability of MacBook Pro models and shorten the extended lead times that Apple customers have been experiencing in recent weeks.
According to analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, Quanta is the sole supplier of high-end MacBook Pro, and its delivery time has increased by three to five weeks since the China lockdown. Currently, certain MacBook Pro configurations won’t be delivered until late June or early July.
While MacBook Pro production is gradually resuming, supply issues are expected to affect product sales in q3 2022. Apple said last week that blockade disruptions in China and a shortage of silicon wafers would continue to make it difficult to produce enough products to meet strong consumer demand, which would ultimately hurt apple’s June quarter earnings.
Longtime Ford Engineer Joins Apple Car Team
Bloomberg reports that Long-time Ford engineer Desi Ujkashevic has left the company and opted to join Apple to work on the Apple Car project. Ujkashevic has been with Ford for more than 30 years and has extensive expertise in safety systems, engineering design deliverables, body interior engineering, and more. Ujkashevic first joined Ford in 1991 and rose through the ranks over the years. She was involved in the development of the Ford Escape, Explorer, Fiesta, and Focus, in addition to working on electric vehicles. Ujkashevic has a wealth of expertise that will benefit the Apple Car project, as she can be involved in helping Apple develop protections for its electric vehicles.
Apple has been regularly hiring from Ford and other car companies over the past few years to develop fully autonomous vehicles. The Apple Car project has faced ongoing leadership issues, and Apple’s goals have shifted several times, but the latest rumors suggest Apple is on track to deliver the Car sometime in the next decade. Bloomberg has previously said that Apple wants the Apple Car to be safer than Tesla and Waymo cars, with backup systems to avoid driving system failures.
