Under the hidden crisis of the fruit chain: Apple sales reached a new high, foxconn highway intersection "robbed people"

According to the Global Times news on May 4, "Foxconn iDPBG Zhengzhou Recruitment" for the first time carried out "point-to-point" recruitment at the high-speed port, and the relevant information caused heated discussion for a while.

As early as April 27, "Foxconn iDPBG Zhengzhou Recruitment" had released the news that after the appointment of job seekers to enter the job, 90 days of employment will receive a bonus of 6500 yuan. In the latest recruitment announcement on May 2, this bonus was raised again. The announcement said that job seekers who have been employed for more than 90 days and have been effectively present for 55 days can receive a bonus of 8,000 yuan.

So, why does Foxconn fight so hard? We have to start with Foxconn and Apple's supply chain. Palm Lian · First Logistics Network interprets Apple's supply chain in this issue.

First, Apple's mobile phone sales reached a new high, and Foxconn's Zhengzhou factory recruited workers

According to the news released by Zhengzhou Foxconn iDPBG Business Group, on April 27, the partners of Zhengzhou Foxconn iDPBG Business Group opened a hot recruitment, and the refund model was up to 6500 yuan. On April 30, the latest announcement shows that since May 2, the rebate model has risen to 8500 yuan, when the job seeker is not less than 90 days in service and the effective attendance is 55 days, he can receive 8000 yuan, and the referrer can receive a 500 yuan bonus. From April 27 to May 2, in just 5 days, the bonus increase increased by more than 30%.

According to Foxconn's official website, Foxconn iDPBG Business Group (full name is "Digital Product Business Group") was established in April 2002, which is mainly engaged in the research and development and production of fashion mobile communication terminal equipment and audio-visual digital products. At present, iDPBG business group has manufacturing bases in Shenzhen, Chengdu, Sichuan, Zhengzhou, Henan, The Czech Republic in Europe, and Fullerton in the United States, with more than 200,000 employees worldwide.

Foxconn iDPBG Business Group, located in the Zhengzhou factory, is the largest assembly location for Apple mobile phones and the main factory area for Apple's series of products.

Foxconn's iDPBG business group directly recruited "peer-to-peer" on the highway, and the bonus rose by more than 30% in one week, which is enough to see the current "labor shortage" of Foxconn. On the one hand, the scope of the current round of epidemic in China has been further expanded, and the epidemic situation in many parts of the country has continued to be sporadic, and the epidemic prevention and control is still in a critical period. Henan also advocates reducing mobility, gathering, and activities.

On the other hand, according to Apple's first quarter 2022 financial report data, Apple's revenue reached $97.278 billion, an increase of 8.59% year-on-year, exceeding the analysts' previous forecast of $93.88 billion. It can be seen that behind Foxconn's rush to work, there are also Apple mobile phone sales to a new high.

According to the data, in the first quarter of 2022, China's smartphone market shipped about 74.2 million units, down 14.1% year-on-year. The top five are OPPO (13.7 million units), Honor (13.5 million units), Vivo (13.3 million units), Apple (12.4 million units) and Xiaomi (11 million units).

On the one hand, the impact of the continuous rebound of the epidemic on consumer budgets, as well as the small upgrade of new products, has led to a continuous downturn in market demand, on the other hand, as the Russian-Ukrainian war has become a "protracted war", resulting in an uncertain overseas market prospects, many mobile phone manufacturers have begun to adopt a more stable and conservative operational strategy. In the context of the general decline in the mobile phone sales market, Apple's mobile phone seems to have become the "survivor".

It is worth noting that under the influence of the shortage of components and sluggish market consumption caused by the epidemic, the shipment volume of the Q1 global mobile phone market fell by 11%, but the iPhone sales increased. That is to say, the iPhone's competitiveness in the global market has been further enhanced. It is also reported that Apple intends to raise the total production target of the iPhone 13 Pro series by 10 million units, which shows that Apple's sales expectations for the iPhone are high.

Second, Apple's supply chain hidden dangers: supply chain masters are also facing new challenges

According to May 2021, Gartner, a well-known data research institute, released data showing that Apple's Apple supply chain has been ranked as a "supply chain master" for many consecutive years, becoming a unique file. Some domestic companies have also caused a sharp rise in stock prices because of the binding of the "fruit chain".

But even so, Apple's financial report still hides "hidden worries". From the quarterly statement, Apple warned companies that the increase in costs was due to the supply chain, and then Apple's stock price fell by more than 2%. Apple is expected to lose $4 billion to $8 billion in sales due to supply chain issues in the second quarter of 2022.

Apple's supply chain crisis has the following two main reasons:

The first is the serious damage caused by the global epidemic, especially in the Shanghai area. According to the data, half of Apple's TOP200 suppliers have factories in Shanghai and surrounding areas, and Shanghai's epidemic control measures have a significant impact on the production of some factories.

More than 70 of them have factories in Jiangsu and supply Apple directly, most of them in Kunshan and Suzhou, while more than 30 Apple suppliers have factories in Shanghai. Domestic fruit chain giants, including Luxun Precision, Sunny Optics, goertek, etc., have been affected by the epidemic in Shanghai.

Second, the shortage of raw materials still exists. From the perspective of mobile phone chips, chip problems in the fields of wireless charging newly added by Apple's iPhone 13 series will exist for a long time. Camera modules are the focus of out-of-stocks, and Sharp, Apple's main supplier of camera modules, has been seriously affected by the epidemic, and factories in Southeast Asia have been forced to shut down.

It is worth noting that the three major Chinese companies that are jokingly called "fruit chain three fools" due to the deep binding of the "fruit chain": Lens Technology, Goertek Shares, and Lixun Precision, have recently performed escapes.

On February 22, 300 billion "fruit chain brother" Luxshare Precision announced that 2 billion yuan was invested in the new energy automobile industry chain, and Wang Laichun, chairman and general manager of Luxun Precision, said that it would take 3-5 years to become a leading supplier of global auto parts. At the same time, chery was purchased in a large way to enter the field of new energy vehicles.

Goertek shares aimed at the VR market, in 20207, Goertek shares won the next generation of Meta VR equipment Quest2 exclusive order, and then in May 2021, Goertek oem VR equipment Piconeo3 was officially released, becoming a domestic VR equipment blockbuster product, as of now Goertek shares occupy more than 70% of the global VR market share.

Lens Technology enters the field of new energy vehicles from the process technology of glass, metal, sapphire, ceramics and other materials. In December 2020, Lens Technology successfully issued additional shares to raise 15 billion yuan to expand production capacity and deepen multi-product lines.

(Author: Hu Xueqin)

Typography: Xiaolan