HIGHLIGHTS
- Apple is expected to shift a significant chunk of supply to Foxconn
- The move can be seen as a step to cut down on cost and risk
- The shift has reportedly begun in the second half of 2017
Apple reportedly has no plans to release a major upgrade for its MacBook Pro lineup in 2018. The Cupertino giant is also expected to shift a major chunk of its MacBook supply orders to FoxconnIndustries. This shift will give Foxconn a substantial share in the total supply of MacBook notebook orders, along with the other supplier Quanta Computer.
According to a Digitimes report, Apple is shifting a substantial percentage of its MacBook supply orders to Foxconn, adding that sources suggest Apple had started outsourcing production to Foxconn's plants in Shenzhen, China in late 2017. The shipment ratio for Quanta and Foxconn has been 8:2 in the past, with Quanta at 79.5 percent and Foxconn at 20.5 percent. Apple is looking to change this mix by increasing Foxconn's share. Digitimes' sources have revealed that Foxconn has been lobbying aggressively for this change, offering attractive quotes for components.
Apple is not looking to refresh its MacBook Pro range this year, and can thus afford to shuffle suppliers in order to save on cost, the report adds. Apple can also cut down on supply risk by equally dividing orders between suppliers. Quanta Computers, in an attempt to recover its losses from the expected shift, is pushing orders from other manufacturers in its latest Request For Quotation (RFQ) processes, Digitimes claims. Quanta Computer is currently the largest suppliers for notebook OEMs including Apple, Acer, Asus, and HP.
In the past, Apple has been known to not refresh its MacBook lineup frequently. The company usually maintains the same chassis and design, and instead upgrades hardware internals such as processor, RAM, storage, and GPU. This suggests that Apple will possibly not make any changes to the ports, look, and dimensions of the MacBook Pro in 2018.
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