Apple Has Purportedly Asked Foxconn To Create Two Foldable iPhone Prototype Shells

Apple appears to be moving along in its development of a foldable iPhone, according to new rumors. The company has apparently asked its Foxconn, its biggest iPhone supplier, to create two prototype foldable shells with displays. From a report: As reported by Tom’s Guide on Sunday, which cites Taiwanese website United Daily News, Apple’s two prototypes reflect two very different approaches…

Foxconn Plant Championed By Trump Lands Google Server Contract

Foxconn plans to assemble key components for Google servers from its plant in Wisconsin, people familiar with the matter said, finally breathing life into a factory Donald Trump hailed as crucial to bringing manufacturing back to the U.S. Bloomberg reports: The Taiwanese company has decided to locate production for this new contract at the existing complex rather than make the components…

Apple Suspends Supplier For Using Illegal Student Labor In China

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: Apple has reprimanded one of its largest manufacturers after a Financial Times investigation found that thousands of student interns had worked overtime to assemble iPhones, in breach of Chinese law. After being contacted by the FT, Apple said it had stopped giving “new business” to Pegatron, its second-largest iPhone assembler after Foxconn….

Is Streaming Music Worse For the Environment?

“The environmental cost of music is now greater than at any time during recorded music’s previous eras,” argues Kyle Devine, in his recent book, “Decomposed: The Political Ecology of Music.” The New Yorker’s music critic writes: He supports that claim with a chart of his own devising, using data culled from various sources, which suggests that, in 2016, streaming and downloading…

Foxconn, Other Asian Firms Consider Mexico Factories As China Risks Grow

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Reuters: Taiwan-based electronics manufacturers Foxconn and Pegatron are among companies eyeing new factories in Mexico, people with direct knowledge of the matter said, as the U.S.-China trade war and coronavirus pandemic prompt firms to reexamine global supply chains. The plans could usher in billions of dollars in badly needed fresh investments over the next…

BlackBerry Phones Aren’t Dead Yet

After TCL announced plans to stop producing BlackBerry phones later this year, it seemed like the once-popular BlackBerry brand would finally be coming to an end. “But now, a new company has pledged to take up the BlackBerry mantle with promises of releasing a new phone featuring a good ‘ol physical keyboard sometime next year,” reports Gizmodo. From the report: In…

Apple Begins Assembling iPhone 11 In India

Apple has begun assembling the current generation of iPhones in its plant near Chennai, India. TechCrunch reports: A small batch of locally manufactured iPhone 11 units has already shipped to retail stores, but the production yield is currently limited. Apple, in general, has ambitions to scale up its local production efforts in India. The local production of current iPhone 11 models…

Apple Supplier Foxconn To Invest $1 Billion In India

Foxconn plans to invest up to $1 billion to expand a factory in southern India where the Taiwanese contract manufacturer assembles Apple iPhones. Fox Business reports: The move, the scale of which has not previously been reported, is part of a quiet and gradual production shift by Apple away from China as it navigates disruptions from a trade war between Beijing…

Apple Reaches New Stage in Development of AR Devices

The coronavirus pandemic has disrupted key parts of Apple’s business, but it hasn’t derailed the company’s plans to build what could be its next important technology platform — augmented reality devices. From a report: The Information has learned that Apple is working with Taiwan’s Foxconn Technology, Apple’s largest contract manufacturer and the one responsible for building most iPhones, to develop semitransparent…

Why America Can Make Semiconductors But Not Swabs

U.S. factories are as productive as ever but they’ve lost the process knowledge needed to retool quickly in a crisis, writes Dan Wang, a Beijing-based technology analyst at Gavekal Dragonomics, in an opinion piece on Bloomberg. From the story: In China, a vast pool of experienced engineers and a culture of nimble manufacturing have allowed companies to quickly shift production to…