Foxconn to concentrate more n cars instead of iPhones

[Distinctly Average]

Summary

Seem the rocky US-China relationship is going to hit more tech firms with Foxconn changing its business strategy from Apple to the car industry.

 

Quotes

Quote

iPhone maker Foxconn is betting big on electric cars and redrawing some of its supply chains as it navigates a new era of icy Washington-Beijing relations.

In an exclusive interview, chairman and boss Young Liu told the BBC what the future may hold for the Taiwanese firm.

He said even as Foxconn shifts some supply chains away from China, electric vehicles (EVs) are what will drive its growth in the coming decades.

As US-China tensions soar, Mr Liu said, Foxconn must prepare for the worst.

"We hope peace and stability will be something the leaders of these two countries will keep in mind," 67-year-old Mr Liu told us, in his offices in Taipei, Taiwan's capital.

. 

 

My thoughts

Foxconn are making the right move. IPhone sales are dropping as are a lot of consumer electronics of its ilk. EVs are rising massively especially in the Chinese and Indian marketplace. So whatever frosty relations the US and China have, Foxconn should be able to ride it out through EVs and probably other personal transport solutions. Where Apple go is yet to be seen but I am certain they are under pressure to pull out of China to some extent. Plus with the continued fall in all smartphone sales Apple I am sure are pushing alternative revenue streams.

 

 

Sources

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-65886658

[saltycaramel]

Where does it say they’re actually scaling down iPhone manufacturing and not just differentiating?

 

By the way as we speak Foxconn is developing with Apple the non-Pro under-2000$ Apple “Vision One” headset of 2025, kinda important. 

 

Now, imagine if since 2014 Apple had also been developing an EV to be manufactured by Foxconn..

[saltycaramel]

20 minutes ago, Distinctly Average said:

IPhone sales are dropping

 

Like a rock

 

 

[Distinctly Average]

22 minutes ago, saltycaramel said:

 

Like a rock

 

 

That is the prediction apparently, at least for the iPhone.

 

https://appleinsider.com/articles/23/04/18/apples-iphone-drops-to-second-place-in-declining-smartphone-market/amp/

 

 

[Blqckqut]

7 minutes ago, Distinctly Average said:

That is the prediction apparently, at least for the iPhone.

 

https://appleinsider.com/articles/23/04/18/apples-iphone-drops-to-second-place-in-declining-smartphone-market/amp/

 

 

it makes sense

people are becoming less stupid about apple and are just buying 2nd hand phones

[Distinctly Average]

1 minute ago, Blqckqut said:

it makes sense

people are becoming less stupid about apple and are just buying 2nd hand phones

Prices are rising year on year ahead of inflation. Many contracts across the EU at least are becoming longer with 36 and now 48 month terms to buy the latest devices. People are hanging onto them longer as a result.

 

Foxconn make some great products. It will be interesting to see what ends up in EVs from the company. In China there are hundreds of new EV startups which the Government have stated needs to be pared down as production and export increases. It is an amazing fast growth with China changing in this area faster than anyone expected. My current EV was built in China at a seemingly better quality build than the same model built in the US.

[Distinctly Average]

57 minutes ago, saltycaramel said:

Where does it say they’re actually scaling down iPhone manufacturing and not just differentiating?

 

By the way as we speak Foxconn is developing with Apple the non-Pro under-2000$ Apple “Vision One” headset of 2025, kinda important. 

 

Now, imagine if since 2014 Apple had also been developing an EV to be manufactured by Foxconn..

Diversification is the word, but with an eye on the relationship between the countries and the potential for a substantial drop in revenue.

[Blqckqut]

1 minute ago, Distinctly Average said:

Prices are rising year on year ahead of inflation. Many contracts across the EU at least are becoming longer with 36 and now 48 month terms to buy the latest devices. People are hanging onto them longer as a result.

 

Foxconn make some great products. It will be interesting to see what ends up in EVs from the company. In China there are hundreds of new EV startups which the Government have stated needs to be pared down as production and export increases. It is an amazing fast growth with China changing in this area faster than anyone expected. My current EV was built in China at a seemingly better quality build than the same model built in the US.

did you have to import it?

[saltycaramel]

You’re reading too much into the CEO of a Taiwanese firm reassuring the public/investors/employees they have contingency plans for the worst and pumping their nascent EV business.

 

If things get sour between China and US, it would be a shitshow for the globalized supply chains as we know them, not just Foxconn and Apple. 

[Dracarris]

2 hours ago, Distinctly Average said:

Prices are rising year on year ahead of inflation.

BS. iPhone prices remained stable for several years for comparable models.

 

12/13/14 regular and Pro models all cost $799 and $999, respectively.

If anything, newly introduced iphone models became cheaper when adjusting for inflation.

 

And Foxconn ist not "the iphone manufacturer". Foxconn manufactures all kinds of electronics for all kinds of companies.

[Distinctly Average]

16 minutes ago, Dracarris said:

BS. iPhone prices remained stable for several years for comparable models.

 

12/13/14 regular and Pro models all cost $799 and $999, respectively.

If anything, newly introduced iphone models became cheaper when adjusting for inflation.

 

And Foxconn ist not "the iphone manufacturer". Foxconn manufactures all kinds of electronics for all kinds of companies.

If you look at just the phone, in many markets the price is stable. When you add in network charges prices are increasing. Really no need to be rude.

 

Here in the UK for instance, if you buy outright which a large percentage of the population do not do, then the increases in network charges add up to about £100 a year. If you buy on contract then the increased interest rates coupled with the increase in network charges add up to a not insignificant amount for many. At least two EU wide networks have increased their interest charges on that by 3% this month alone. PayPal have just increased their interest rates as have many banks. Many of us have the luxury of not needing to borrow for devices like this, but there are far more that do borrow. Often many do not think of it as credit depending on various countries rules on how it is advertised. This seems especially true of the younger generations who are a big market for this kind of product.

 

This is really going off topic though. I was hoping the discussion would be about the diversification of Foxconn. Also I never said they were the iPhone manufacturer. I have owned Foxconn motherboards and have used their products in  data centres so I am aware of what they produce. It is interesting that they have had to build some of their ranges outside China due to pressures on them.

[Dracarris]

51 minutes ago, Distinctly Average said:

If you look at just the phone, in many markets the price is stable. When you add in network charges prices are increasing. Really no need to be rude.

I really don't see what network charges have to do with this discussion here. While your lengthy explanation of UK total cost of ownership of smartphones is interesting, I am not sure it can be applied to most major markets and is therefore indicative of the general cost of owning iphones around the globe rising.

 

I'm currently on a ~25$ per month contract with no data caps in one of the most "expensive" places on earth (Switzerland) and buy a new phone every 3-5 years after reselling my old one. But I also do not go for Pro Plus Max models or basically any model that goes significantly above ~800$, so I may be the exception.

51 minutes ago, Distinctly Average said:

Also I never said they were the iPhone manufacturer.

Hm not sure. This sounds to me a lot like Foxconn up to now was primarily producing for Apple and is now going to primarily produce stuff (?) for cars.

4 hours ago, Distinctly Average said:

with Foxconn changing its business strategy from Apple to the car industry.

 

[Donut417]

3 hours ago, Blqckqut said:

it makes sense

people are becoming less stupid about apple and are just buying 2nd hand phones

I never understood the people who upgrade yearly. I mean Apple does what 5 to 6 years of software support on the iPhone? 

 

Me, I have no issue buying a brand new device vs used. But I plan on keeping the device for at least 3 to 5 years, hopefully closer to the 5 mark. My iPhone XR still works great for the most part. 

[Distinctly Average]

5 hours ago, Dracarris said:

I really don't see what network charges have to do with this discussion here. While your lengthy explanation of UK total cost of ownership of smartphones is interesting, I am not sure it can be applied to most major markets and is therefore indicative of the general cost of owning iphones around the globe rising.

There are also plenty of figures about showing how the cost per year of ownership is rising quite rapidly. It is worse for us in the UK as Brexit saw an end to free roaming. That aside, cost of interest has risen in many localities. 

5 hours ago, Dracarris said:

 

I'm currently on a ~25$ per month contract with no data caps in one of the most "expensive" places on earth (Switzerland) and buy a new phone every 3-5 years after reselling my old one. But I also do not go for Pro Plus Max models or basically any model that goes significantly above ~800$, so I may be the exception.

Hm not sure. This sounds to me a lot like Foxconn up to now was primarily producing for Apple and is now going to primarily produce stuff (?) for cars.

 

Foxconn have factories outside China that produce a lot of stuff for data centres. They have done for a very long time including motherboards, raid cards, network cards and a lot more. I can see why they are worried with successive US governments putting the brakes on Chinese tech imports. The EV market is huge and growing at a massive rate so it makes a lot of sense to invest in that direction.

[leadeater]

2 hours ago, Dracarris said:

Hm not sure. This sounds to me a lot like Foxconn up to now was primarily producing for Apple and is now going to primarily produce stuff (?) for cars.

Foxconn is a massive company. 

 

Quote

Foxconn manufactures electronic products for major American, Canadian, Chinese, Finnish, and Japanese companies. Notable products manufactured by Foxconn include the BlackBerry,[5] iPad,[6] iPhone, iPod,[7] Kindle,[8] all Nintendo gaming systems since the GameCube (except subsequent Nintendo DS models), Nokia devices, Cisco products, Sony devices (including the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 gaming consoles), Google Pixel devices, Xiaomi devices, every successor to Microsoft's first Xbox console,[9] and several CPU sockets, including the TR4 CPU socket on some motherboards. As of 2012, Foxconn factories manufactured an estimated 40% of all consumer electronics sold worldwide.[10]

 

Pick up any consumer electronics device, odds are something in there is Foxconn.

 

Also you don't need 1.3 million employees to just make iPhones.

[Mark Kaine]

23 hours ago, Dracarris said:

any model that goes significantly above ~800$, so I may be the exception.

If you buy/rent phones that are above €300 you're already way overpaying and clear FOMO victim... 

 

 

also that's nice you have unlimited data... here in Germany "one of the richest countries in the world" we don't have that luxury (not for 25 bucks certainly) 

[Dracarris]

51 minutes ago, Mark Kaine said:

If you buy/rent phones that are above €300 you're already way overpaying and clear FOMO victim... 

Not sure where you want to get at, maybe that applies to used phones. For new phones, it's a fact that the cost for the manufacturer to produce it is between 400 and 500$ (budget phones excluded) already, without earning a single dollar or spending one on R&D or running the included cloud services.

21 hours ago, leadeater said:

Foxconn is a massive company. 

Exactly. So my quote from the original post is even more misleading.

22 hours ago, Distinctly Average said:

There are also plenty of figures about showing how the cost per year of ownership is rising quite rapidly.

I'd be interested in some sources to back that up.

[RejZoR]

On 6/16/2023 at 8:41 AM, Blqckqut said:

it makes sense

people are becoming less stupid about apple and are just buying 2nd hand phones

You can only saturate market so much. Except in heads of corporate suits who think sales and profits can go into infinity and beyond!

[Mark Kaine]

3 hours ago, Dracarris said:

Not sure where you want to get at, maybe that applies to used phones. For new phones, it's a fact that the cost for the manufacturer to produce it is between 400

But i said it in my post, its completely unnecessary to pay more than like 300, those phones are fast enough, even for games if you're into that... if you pay more its a clear case of fomo, basically falling for marketing. 

 

3 hours ago, Dracarris said:

budget phones excluded

as in compared to completely overpriced ones with "features " ie  gimmicks you factually don't need ? 

 

If you want to pay more that's perfectly fine but don't paint it as being reasonable lol.

[Distinctly Average]

11 hours ago, Dracarris said:

Not sure where you want to get at, maybe that applies to used phones. For new phones, it's a fact that the cost for the manufacturer to produce it is between 400 and 500$ (budget phones excluded) already, without earning a single dollar or spending one on R&D or running the included cloud services.

Exactly. So my quote from the original post is even more misleading.

I'd be interested in some sources to back that up.

A bit hard to give the figures as I heard them on a BBC radio report, IIRC Martin Lewis was the one commenting on it. They cited increasing interest rates across the EU and UK for the increased cost of ownership that has meant more consumers are buying 36 month contracts. There is a fear that costs will spiral amongst consumers here so people are trying to lock in prices for longer and ignoring the interest rate rises that those taking an included phone face. Recently the rules changed in the UK and the EU where the phone cost was no longer allowed to be bundled into one contract. It is supposed to make things clearer as well as stopping the thieving git network’s continuing to charge for the cost of a device long after it has been paid off.

 

On the plus side, the US pay 7* as much per Gb of mobile data than we do in the UK. From the charts, Italy have the cheapest mobile data by quite some margin.

[Godlygamer23]

On 6/16/2023 at 8:34 AM, leadeater said:

Foxconn is a massive company. 

In fact I own a motherboard made by Foxconn.

[Distinctly Average]

2 hours ago, Godlygamer23 said:

In fact I own a motherboard made by Foxconn.

Was it a Foxconn branded one? I remember seeing the brand on the box of many motherboards years ago. It must be around AM3/Socket 1366 era that they stopped shipping own brand boxed stuff.

[Dracarris]

17 hours ago, Mark Kaine said:

as in compared to completely overpriced ones with "features " ie  gimmicks you factually don't need ? 

Features such as being supported for 5-7 years by the manufacturer, actually lasting that long and being well built. Yeah gimmicks you actually don‘t need. If you think anything over 300 is FOMO that‘s your and only your highly subjective opinion. And it‘s nowhere near any universal objective truth.

 

Not even including that the cheapest iphone starts at around 400 and - whether you like it or not - the inclusion of a phone into Apples ecosystem including Airdrop etc is an actual and significant advantage to many people, far from being a gimmick.

 

Peoples actual needs are different and you don‘t get to decide what are useless gimmicks for everyone.

[suicidalfranco]

On 6/16/2023 at 11:17 AM, Dracarris said:

BS. iPhone prices remained stable for several years for comparable models.

BS, iPhone prices have been rising consistently

[leadeater]

8 minutes ago, suicidalfranco said:

BS, iPhone prices have been rising consistently

Also before anything like this starts price per GB of storage and memory has been going down over those years so that's not a reason for price increases due to offering more of either.