Foxconn, once known as the "iPhone City," is now facing an unprecedented crisis. Last year's Zhengzhou Foxconn incident seriously damaged the image of the world's largest electronic product foundry, and also caused Apple's "fruit chain" to be greatly challenged. This year, Apple will launch a new iPhone series, but Foxconn is no longer the only assembler, but to share orders with Pegatron and Luxshare Precision. What signal does this send? Foreign media analysis said that this is a manifestation of Apple's dissatisfaction and distrust of Foxconn, and it is also a signal that Foxconn has begun to "fall out of favor".
Looking back at last year's Zhengzhou Foxconn incident, the cause was that the local department implemented a "dynamic zero" policy in response to the new crown epidemic, resulting in 200,000 employees in the Foxconn campus being locked down in the factory area. Due to the ineffective epidemic prevention and control measures in the factory, some employees worked with illness, and the living conditions were "miserable", and cluster infection incidents emerged one after another. Foxconn has also been exposed to non-compliant recruitment, militarized management, and excessive overtime. These problems led to discontent and resistance among employees, and even "violent incidents" and mass flights. These incidents have been widely reported by domestic and foreign media, attracting the attention and condemnation of society and public opinion.
The incident had a huge impact on both Foxconn and Apple. First of all, Foxconn, which had a poor reputation, has once again become the target of public criticism, and its reputation has been seriously damaged. Second, Foxconn's production capacity was limited and could not meet Apple's demand in the sales season in time, resulting in Apple's performance decline. Apple CEO Tim Cook mentioned the Foxconn issue at the first quarter results conference this year. Again, the trust relationship between Foxconn and Apple was once again challenged, and Apple began to consider adjusting its "fruit chain" strategy to reduce its dependence on Foxconn.
According to the latest news, Apple has made a decision that the new iPhone series will be jointly assembled by Foxconn, Pegatron and Luxshare Precision for the first time. Among them, the highest-end 15 Pro Max or 15 Ultra is still exclusively assembled by Foxconn to ensure quality; Luxshare Precision has become the main OEM of iPhone 15 Plus and won some orders for 15 and 15 Pro. Luxshare Precision only manufactured part of the iPhone 14 and 14 Plus last year, and this year it has further expanded its share, which may further challenge Foxconn's position in the future.
Foreign media analysis said that Apple's diversified adjustment to the "fruit chain" reflects Apple's dissatisfaction and distrust of Foxconn. On the one hand, Apple hopes to control risks and costs through the adjustment of the existing "fruit chain", so as to improve competitiveness; On the other hand, Apple also hopes to pressure the old partner Foxconn to improve its management and service levels, as well as improve production efficiency and quality by cultivating more new partners in the "fruit chain".
All in all, now the "fruit chain" has changed! Foreign media bluntly said that Foxconn began to "fall out of favor". This is a topic worth paying attention to and thinking about. It involves the current situation and future of "Made in China", the adjustment and change of the global supply chain, corporate social responsibility and image management. It also reminds us that in today's era of rapid change and fierce competition, no business can rest on its laurels and complacency, but must constantly innovate and evolve to adapt to market needs and societal expectations.