According to recent rumors, Foxconn won’t be Apple’s sole assembly partner for the upcoming iPhone 15 Pro Max handset.
Taiwanese research firm TrendForce has indicated that Apple has recruited Luxshare to help assemble the handset in 2023. It’s unclear what percentage of orders Luxshare will fulfill, but the move will help to reduce Apple’s risks of relying on a single manufacturer following workplace issues at Foxconn in recent months.
Rumors have also suggested that there will be increased differentiation between the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max. As a result, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman said the Pro Max could potentially be renamed the iPhone 15 Ultra, like the Apple Watch Ultra.
Back in November, noted Apple analyst Ming-Chi stated that assembly providers Luxshare and Pegatron had each been contracted to assemble about 10 percent of iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max orders from Foxconn. Kuo also noted that mass shipments would not begin until late December at the earliest. TrendForce said this will serve as a trial run for Apple diversifying its iPhone production partners.
Foxconn, which has been Apple’s primary iPhone producer for years, has experienced “significant strain” since October due to COVID-19 outbreaks at its factory in Zhengzhou, China, resulting in significantly reduced production capacity for iPhone 14 Pro models. TrendForce also stated that China’s supply chain has also started to experience a labor shortage this month as the Chinese government eased COVID-19 restrictions, leading to increased spread of the virus.
Given recent production issues and economic indicators, TrendForce has lowered its iPhone shipments forecast for the first quarter of 2023 to 47 million units, which would be a year-over-year decline of 22 percent if the firm’s predictions prove accurate.
Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.
Via MacRumors, TrendForce, and Bloomberg