Apple Adds Suppliers to Boost Smartphone, Tablet Production
Technology Firm to Broaden Assemblers of iPhone 5C — HONG KONG— Apple Inc. is adding new contract manufacturing partners in Asia to boost production of its smartphones and tablets, people familiar with the supply chain said …
Context & Ripple Effects
The report lands as the capstone of a pattern already visible in Apple's sourcing: after bringing lesser-known Asian suppliers into its product line in 2012, Apple followed with Pegatron expanding its China workforce by 40% in mid-2013 — hiring ahead of exactly this kind of assembly award. Now supply-chain sources tell the Wall Street Journal the company is broadening its assembler roster again, with the iPhone 5C specifically named.
Two caveats shape how to read it: the claims are sourced but unconfirmed by Apple, and the pickup was unusually wide — AllThingsD, CNET, The Verge, MacRumors, Gigaom, BGR, AppleInsider and App Advice all carried it the same day, a sign of how tightly the analyst community tracks any loosening of Foxconn's grip on iPhone assembly.
First-order effects
- Foxconn's effective incumbency on iPhone and iPad assembly is diluted: new Asian contract manufacturers win volume on the iPhone 5C and tablet lines immediately, while Foxconn faces a second bidder inside accounts it once held alone.
Second-order effects
- Pegatron's 40% China hiring surge in Q2 2013 reads as preparation for this moment — rivals now have proof that Apple rewards capacity investment with assembly share, pushing Hon Hai, Pegatron and other assemblers into a capacity-building race priced against each other.
Third-order effects
- If Apple keeps splitting assembly across multiple vendors, contract electronics manufacturing shifts from a flagship-customer model (one dominant assembler per product) toward commoditized procurement, where Apple allocates volume by cost and flexibility — a structure that also lowers the switching cost of moving production between countries.
The trend: Apple is methodically converting its assembler relationships from a Foxconn-centric partnership into a multi-vendor bidding pool for iPhone and iPad production.