Information announced today that shortly after lockdowns and protests related to COVID-19 hit iPhone maker Foxconn in China in late 2022, Apple’s senior vice president of operations Sabih Khan instructed managers to cut the number of workers on iPhone assembly lines by more than 50%. the next few years.
To achieve this goal, Apple has reportedly begun approving high-cost automation projects for iPhone assembly that it had previously shied away from. The report claims that this effort led to a “significant amount” of automation in the production of the iPhone 15, but automation still poses challenges for Apple due to the complexity of production.
For example, the report claims that Apple had to cancel some automation processes for the iPhone 16 series due to “high defect rates”:
This year, Apple sought to build on some of its automation successes by using machines to install the iPhone’s buttons, receiver, speaker and main logic board into its chassis, according to three people who worked in Apple’s supply chain. But the machines faltered in properly securing those parts that need to be carefully screwed into place at different angles, the people said.
Apple’s push for automation could allow it to shift even more iPhone assembly to countries outside of China, such as India, Vietnam and Thailand, as part of the company’s bid to diversify its supply chain in Southeast Asia.
More details can be found in Information‘s report.
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