Apple’s chief operating officer Jeff Williams is in Taiwan as a guest of honor for Foxconn’s 50th anniversary celebrations. He’s reportedly joined by his deputy, Sabih Khan.
The rare visit is likely a compromise, enabling the occasion to be marked while CEO Tim Cook continues his policy of avoiding visits to the island …
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Back in January, a top US Air Force general predicted that a Taiwan invasion would occur in 2025, while the US is distracted by the likely fallout from the 2024 presidential election. That scenario is gaining in credibility among companies in Apple’s supply chain – but they say there is no possible way to put in place the necessary contingency plans.
Production of iPhones would likely be rendered impossible given the company’s complete dependence on both Taiwan and China …
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A bug in iOS 11.3 – fixed in iOS 11.4.1 – revealed that Apple censors the Taiwanese flag on iPhones whose region is set to China …
Apple reports that there were overnight queues for the grand opening of its latest retail store, its first one in Taipei. Located in the landmark Taipei 101 skyscraper, the store opened on Saturday morning …
We learned earlier this month that Apple’s first ever retail store in Taiwan would be located in the landmark Taipei 101 skyscraper, with the opening date later confirmed to be July 1st.
A couple of days before the official opening, Apple has shared a few photos of the store, which of course features the redesigned interior that is now standard for new and refurbished stores …
Apple has confirmed to Reuters that it will open its first retail store in Taiwan, as job listings are spotted for all the usual retail positions. The store is expected to open in the capital, Taipei, but the precise location or date are not yet known.
Apple’s VP of environment, policy and social initiatives Lisa Jackson has tweeted congratulations to chip supplier TSMC on doubling its use of renewable energy this year.
Update: The WSJ echoes the report, adding that $1B will just be the starting point, with possible increases based on demand, and stating that it will be mirrored by a similar bond issue in Australia. It says that in all Apple is aiming to raise $3-4B in the Asia Pacific region.
If an unconfirmed Reuters report is correct, Apple could be tapping Taiwan for more than just components and assembly – it is also looking to raise capital from the island.
Apple Inc plans to issue bonds in Taiwan for the first time with the aim of raising $1 billion, sources familiar with the matter said, joining a queue of big global names that have sold billions of dollars on the island’s busy debt market.
Apple chipmaker TSMC said that the earthquake that hit southern Taiwan earlier this month caused damage that will impact production, but has not yet given a clear indication of the scale of the problem. The company is one of two chip fabricators for the iPhone 6s, and is expected to be the sole manufacturer of the A10 chip for the iPhone 7.
The 6.4-magnitude earthquake on February 6 killed 116 people and injured many more, with significant damage also caused to manufacturing facilities …
Following the most recent Apple Music launch for users in Turkey last week, the subscription music streaming service and accompanying Beats 1 radio station have now officially launched in Taiwan.
Apple’s rollout of the iPhone 6s/Plus beyond the dozen launch countries kicks off today, with customers in 36 more countries able to get their hands on the new devices. This follows Apple making SIM-free phones available in the USA.
The countries are Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Greenland, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Isle of Man, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Maldives, Mexico, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and Taiwan.
Those in Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates will have to wait until tomorrow, while there’s a further week to go before sales open up in India, Malaysia and Turkey. Apple has promised that the new iPhones will be on sale in over 130 countries by the end of the year.
Apple sold more than 13 million iPhones in the opening weekend. If you’re still on the fence, some recent pieces that may help are my iPhone 6s diary, a video of the best 3D Touch features, plus a comparison video and opinion piece on the 6s versus 6s Plus.
From some recent news reports and analyst pronouncements, we could easily get the impression that the relatively weak Chinese economy poses a major threat to Apple. The argument doing the rounds is that China is where Apple is seeing most of its growth at present, and the Chinese economy is tanking.
It’s absolutely the case that the importance of China to Apple cannot be overstated. Apple does continue to grow its sales in both the Americas and Europe, of course, and there is no suggestion that this is showing any sign of slowing, despite a saturated smartphone market. But worldwide growth of 33% was dwarfed by that seen in China, as one recent graph vividly illustrated.
If Chinese demand for Apple products were indeed to weaken significantly, there is no doubt that this would be a major problem for Apple. But it seems to me that the issue is being substantially over-stated …
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The Apple Watch, originally launched in nine countries, hits seven more today – with a further rollout on July 17th. Apple has so far added the July 17th date to its websites in the Netherlands, Sweden and Thailand.
The countries going live today include Italy, Mexico, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland and Taiwan …
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Apple has allegedly slashed its initial order of Apple Watches in half, cutting the number of units from around 3 million to just 1.5 million, a new report out of Taiwan claims. As has previously been the case with Apple device launches, supplies of the new wearable are expected to be constrained due to manufacturing difficulties.
The problem seems to stem from Apple’s decision to switch to a new type of display for the watch. Those new AMOLED panels are being manufactured by LG, but the company is having trouble producing enough to keep up with demand. LG was originally expected to produce 5 million panels per month.
But maybe Apple isn’t cutting its supply. Maybe something else is afoot…
Digitimes still seems to think the long-rumored 12-inch Retina MacBook Air is going to be announced tomorrow, claiming that shipments have already begun.
Shipments of a new MacBook Air model, reportedly equipped with a 12-inch Retina screen, have begun in small volumes and large-volume shipments will begin in November, according to Taiwan-based supply chain makers.
The claim seems highly unlikely given that just two days ago Re/code cited Apple sources as specifically stating that, while the product was in the pipeline, it would not be shown at tomorrow’s event …
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NZ carrier Spark offers customers life-sized cardboard emoji characters to reserve their spot in line for iPhone 6
Apple’s second wave of iPhone 6 sales has just kicked off with customers in New Zealand getting access to the device through retail stores and online as we roll into the morning of September 26 in the country. We’re also approaching the launch in a total of 20 countries today as the device goes on sale the morning of September 26 local time in the following locations:
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DigiTimes is citing supply-chain sources as stating that Apple is gearing-up its iPhone 6 production plans for an anticipated 80 million sales by year-end. If achieved, it would represent 33 percent year-on-year growth.
Makers in the iPhone supply chain are preparing parts and components for production of up to 80 million units of iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus before year-end 2014, according to sources at Taiwan-based iPhone supply chain.
As ever with DigiTimes, the number should be taken with a large dose of salt: while manufacturers will be aware of their own order-books from Apple, and thus have some degree of insight into the company’s expectations for early sales, it’s a stretch to extrapolate from that to sales targets up to the end of the year.
We won’t have too long to wait for a good indication of how well the new models are selling. They go on sale on Friday 19th, and Apple is expected to issue its usual announcement of opening weekend sales on Monday 22nd September. Last year, Apple announced a record 9M iPhone sales in the first three days.
This year’s opening weekend numbers may take a hit, however, with the New York Times reporting that regulatory problems may mean the new models won’t go on sale in China – a massive market – on 19th September.
Via Business Insider
A claimed schematic of the 4.7-inch model of the iPhone 6 appears to support suggestions that the camera lens will protrude, though only by 0.77mm. Posted by Apple Club in Taiwan, it appears to show a 7mm thick casing with the thickest part of the camera extending 0.77mm beyond this.
Suggestions that the quest for thinness might result in an iPod Touch-style protruding camera lens on the iPhone 6 date back to March, and have been supported by claimed backplate photos as recently as this month. There have, though, been conflicting reports, with one suggestion that Apple would be able to avoid this by restricting optical image stabilization to the larger 5.5-inch model …
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Photos of apparent leaked iPhone 6 parts continue, the latest from AppleClub in Taiwan claiming to show complete logic board assemblies. With most of the components hidden beneath shielding, we don’t learn anything new beyond the flash memory chip middle-left appearing to be made by Toshiba …
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Digitimes is reporting that Pegatron is making half of the 4.7-inch model of the iPhone 6, at least for orders placed in 2014. Citing upstream suppliers (those making components for delivery to the assembly plants), it’s rumored that Apple has asked Pegatron to make 25M of its initial order of 50M phones, with primary supplier Foxconn making the rest – along with all of the 5.5-inch models.
Taiwan’s Commercial Times had originally suggested that Pegatron would be receiving only 15 percent of orders, while DigiTimes said back in May that it was 30 percent – the same source that now says 50 percent. If you’re thinking all this suggests they are simply plucking numbers out of the air, you may well be right.
Either way, we’re expecting Apple to finally unveil the long-awaited iPhone 6 on 9th September. Recent claimed leaked parts have shown tapered edges on the display panel and the power button moved from the top to the side of the phone; a raised camera cutout; and a single, circular True Tone flash.
We’ve heard sketchy rumors about the battery capacity, and the same rumors about NFC we hear every year.
Everything we’ve seen does, though, point to a significantly slimmer and more rounded design.
Component orders by Apple for the iPhone 6 are a significant factor in the current thriving state of a number of Asian economies, say analysts and government officials cited by the WSJ.
Analysts expect companies from Taiwan, Japan and South Korea that supplied earlier versions of the iPhone to produce key components like displays, camera lenses and microprocessors. Already, some of those companies are announcing increased earnings or forecasts, and economists and analysts are talking about an Apple effect on whole sectors and economies …
Apple is about to roll out its Volume Purchase Program, which allows business and education customers to purchase and distribute iOS apps in bulk for deployed devices, into 16 new countries. Apple’s website for both the Volume Purchase Program for Business and for Education have been updated to announce the expansion and now list the following countries as coming soon to the program:
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A report from DigiTimes claims that Samsung has received orders from Apple for chips made using its new 14nm process, with volume production set to ramp up in the course of next year.
The Samsung Electronics and Globalfoundries team reportedly has landed orders for its 14nm FinFET process from Qualcomm and Apple, with related foundry services to begin in early 2015, according to industry sources in Taiwan …
