According to the news of the micro network, there may be "recruits" in the team of Apple optical suppliers.
Recently, South Korea's Jahwa (Magnetized Electronics) Electronics has said that the company plans to invest 191 billion won ($155 million) to build a factory to produce new optical image stabilization (OIS) actuators.
Subsequently, news broke that the optical stabilizer produced by magnetized electronics' new factory, combining OIS and autofocus functions, will be used in future iPhones. Specifically, the optical stabilizers they produce will be supplied to LG Innotek.
In this regard, an industry insider communicated with the author frankly that the above-mentioned optical stabilizer refers to OIS motor products, and magnetization is indeed entering Apple's OIS motor supply chain system.
"The more high-end the motor, the more limited the production capacity, because the time to produce one high-end motor can produce two mid-range motors and four low-end motors, and the lack of high-end product capacity is why Apple is looking for additional high-end motor capacity." said the above-mentioned person.
Some insiders also said bluntly, Apple usually requires suppliers to build production lines specifically for their own parts, but once the newly built factory is completed, it needs to be approved by Apple, and the whole process takes at least a year to complete, from the current global supply of motors, the only suppliers who can really mass-produce periscope OIS motors are Mitsumi, TDK and magnetization.
However, in the periscope OIS motor, Apple's supplier is only Mitsumi. Because of this, the above-mentioned people believe that Apple's move is to cultivate a "spare tire" periscope OIS motor factory. In its view, whether magnetized electronics can form a cooperation with Apple is not certain, because it also involves patents and other issues.
Starting to supply Apple next year?
A few days ago, according to The Elec, Apple has reached a cooperation with a lens component supplier to use periscope telephoto lenses on the iPhones released next year.
And Apple's lens upstream suppliers seem to have a new move. According to disclosed information, Magnetization plans to spend 191 billion won (about 1 billion yuan) to build a factory to produce new optical image stabilization (OIS) components.
Earlier, according to a report by The Elec, Apple visited Magnetization's new plant in the first half of 2021 and is likely to be making investments so that Magnetization will supply OIS actuators to Apple starting next year.
In this regard, the author learned from the supply chain that the new factory facilities need to be approved by the iPhone manufacturer after completion, so this process takes at least a year to complete, on the other hand, magnetization is an important supplier of Samsung's motors, and magnetization and Apple really form a cooperation, but also involve patents and other issues, and the specific plan may depend on how Apple and magnetization negotiate.
The person further added that in his view, Apple's periscope OIS motor supplier next year may still be the only Mitsumi.
However, why did Apple add magnetization to its periscope motor supplier? In contrast, the author learned from the supply chain that it is rumored that apple will use periscope telephoto lenses on new products next year.
This means that Apple will increase the demand for periscope OIS motors, and it is understood that the most powerful manufacturers of periscope OIS motor technology in the world are mainly Mitsumi, TDK and magnetization, Mitsumi is the only supplier of Apple's OIS optical image stabilization motors.
Usually, on a core device, Apple will use the supply method of multiple suppliers, on the one hand, it can reduce the dependence on a single supplier, and on the other hand, it can increase the premium ability. Based on this, in the eyes of industry insiders, Apple's move is to cultivate another periscope OIS motor factory to achieve the demand for stable supply and other aspects.
An industry insider familiar with Apple's supply chain said that Apple has higher requirements for its suppliers, including both product quality and automation level, for suppliers, automation, input, rate of return, etc. are important considerations, and in the periscope OIS motor supply chain, the domestic motor factory output is only 5KK-6KK, but to meet Apple's requirements, it may start from 20KK-30KK.
It can be seen that there is still a huge gap between domestic motor factories and international motor manufacturers, and the above supply and demand factors are an important reason for Apple to choose international manufacturers.
However, another person familiar with the Apple industry chain said bluntly that "entering" is only entering the threshold, "not on the table" is another matter, "eating meat or not eating meat is another thing."
Apple's supply chain is not good either
As the mobile phone brand manufacturer with the largest market share of smart phones, major mobile phone suppliers will enter Apple's supply chain system as an important goal.
However, apple's supply chain is not good today.
According to the author's understanding from the supply chain, the profits of many Apple suppliers have also declined significantly in recent years. According to the author's rough statistics, in the Apple chain in 2021, the net profit of manufacturers such as Changying Precision, Daliguang, Hengmingda, Luxshare Precision and Kerui Technology has declined to a certain extent.
(Only partial)
Among them, the net profit of Changying Precision was a loss of 579 million yuan, down 196.43% from the same period last year; Kerui Technology expects its net profit in 2021 to be about 33 million yuan – 48 million yuan, down 83.63% - 88.74% year-on-year.
In terms of comprehensive gross profit margin, the gross profit margin of many of Apple's suppliers has declined significantly in 2021. Among them, the gross profit margin of Daliguang fell below 60%, down 7.04 percentage points year-on-year, hitting a new 6-year low.
The comprehensive gross profit margin of Changying Precision fell by about 10 percentage points. Changying Precision admitted that the key products of major customers are in the period of mass production and climbing, and the yield is low; some production and manufacturing bases are affected by the epidemic, the shortage of customer chips, and the new energy part of the product line is in the early stage of production, the capacity utilization rate is not as expected, and the production cost rises; the company's main raw materials such as copper and aluminum have increased sharply, which is difficult to digest in the short term; exchange rate changes, labor costs, etc. have a certain impact on gross profit margins, and the gross profit margin in 2021 is affected by the above reasons by about 10 percentage points year-on-year.
Some people familiar with the Apple industry chain said that the apple chain is not good now, on the one hand, it is necessary to consider a large amount of capital investment, on the other hand, it is also facing pressure on the price.
Returning to the entire periscope OIS motor field, if magnetized electronics really enter the Apple periscope OIS motor supply chain camp, then this means that the competition at the apple motor supply chain end will become more and more intense.
(Proofreading/Sara)