Foxconn produces 590 new iPhones per hour per line: iPhone XR first
In September, Zhengzhou's Foxconn Park ushered in the busiest day. With Apple's release of three new iPhones, the Apple's largest assembly plant quickly switched to a brightly lit state.
'This time is very busy', a person in charge of Foxconn Zhengzhou production line told the interface reporter that the end of the conference does not mean the beginning of sales, they need to wait until the predetermined amount, in order to distribute the production capacity well, before They want to guarantee the production yield and efficiency of all new products.
According to a report on the Taiwan Electronic Times website on September 11, the Foxconn Group (known as Honghai Seiko in Taiwan) recently released operational data for August. The company received an operating income of NT$396.8 billion in August. At $12.9 billion, revenue increased by 0.3% from the previous month, but increased by 25.3% compared with the same period last year.
The Foxconn Group is the world's largest electronics foundry. Apple is just one of its largest OEM customers. Data shows that in the three major businesses of the Foxconn Group, the consumer electronics business performed best in August, followed by the communications business and Computing business.
Currently, there are three new iPhone core assembly plants for Apple: Foxconn, Heshuo and Flextronics. But Foxconn occupies more than half of the production share. With the large-scale sales of Apple's newly released mobile phones, the remaining few in 2018 In the middle of the month, the Foxconn Group’s revenue growth will expand.
Foxconn capacity is prioritized for iPhone XR
On September 12, Apple announced three new iPhones, iPhone Xs, iPhone Xs Max and iPhone XR. In many people's eyes, this conference has almost no highlights. If you just want to find a bright spot, that is The price of the Apple mobile phone has reached a new height.
'Apple has put this major sales on the iPhone XR. They also admit that the more expensive iPhone XS innovation is not a lot. They think that the relatively cheap iPhone XR with similar functions may be more liked by people, 'one close Apple's Foxconn staff said that in addition, Apple is not satisfied with the sales of iPhone X last year, so hope for today's iPhone XR.
According to data released by market research firm Anaccord Genuity, in the fourth quarter of 2017, Apple captured 87% of the global smartphone industry, while Apple's iPhone sales accounted for only 17.9% of total sales.
The highlight of this year's Apple launch is that in addition to the flagship version of the phone, Apple also launched a 'People's Edition' mobile phone, iPhone XR. The new product uses aluminum alloy frame, providing black, white, gold, yellow, blue, red six colors. The screen uses a 6.1-inch Liquid Retina LCD screen, which continues the overall screen design of the iPhone X, but the screen ratio and resolution are reduced. Although the Face ID is added, the iPhone XR does not support 3D Touch, but this machine is China also supports dual SIM cards. In addition, the iPhone XR is also equipped with the latest A12 chip, and also uses the same camera sensor as the iPhone XS, and will provide 64GB, 128GB and 256GB three capacity options.
The iPhone XR starts at $749 (the National Bank version starts at $6,499), its configuration is higher than the iPhone 8 Plus, and the price is more cost-effective. The sales date is expected to be postponed until the end of October.
According to an employee on the iPhone XR production line, Foxconn Zhengzhou Park currently has 27 production lines for the iPhone XR. Among the three models, the current production line yield is 93%, and the production efficiency is The production line produces 590 mobile phones per hour, and the production time is 19 hours per day.
'The current production capacity is not good, the back cover of the iPhone XR is out of stock, because it is an aluminum back cover, it is easy to fade when it is produced. Some of the back cover suppliers are manufactured by Foxconn, and some are produced by Changshuo Technology. The above-mentioned person said that at 10 Before the official sales in the month, the production line and suppliers must solve these problems.
Last year, the Foxconn Group encountered many difficulties in the production of the Apple iPhone X mobile phone, including the low yield of upstream parts suppliers, which led to Apple delaying the release of iPhone X mobile phones, and Foxconn’s performance was also affected. In the October of the peak of Apple's mobile phone sales, Foxconn's revenue only increased by 3%.
According to the person in charge of the Foxconn production line, once the initial quantity is determined, their production line allocation can be switched quickly. Because the production process of these devices is the same, the test software is also ready-made, they only need to replace the assembly equipment. Just fine.
'We are planning to make all the production lines bet on the iPhone XR. The iPhone XS Zhengzhou will only keep 4 lines. There are 12 tickets in Shenzhen Guanlan. When the quantity is released, it will switch immediately,” said the person in charge of the iPhone XR production line mentioned above.
1200 workers per line
Foxconn wanted to use the 'Million Robot Project' to solve the rising labor costs of Chinese factories, but from the current situation, this plan is still in the foreseeable future.
'Now there are more than 1,200 workers on each production line. The number of production line workers has not decreased, but it has increased every year. The head of Foxconn production line said that although automation equipment is also popular in the production line, because the iPhone is getting more and more Complex, so more and more manpower is needed.
He added that the assembly test can be used for automation, including face recognition modules, which are also done by machine. However, in the process of screwing, checking and cleaning, it is highly dependent on labor. At present, automation equipment can only complete the entire assembly. 30-40% of the program, it is difficult to exceed 50%.
'No way, the machine of the automation equipment is too big, it can't be put into the phone, let alone the fine operation,' said the above.
The 'Million Robot Project' was first proposed by Foxconn CEO Hou Taiming in 2011. He once claimed to assemble 1 million robotic arms in 2014, and saw the first fully automated factories in 5 to 10 years. Guo Taiming It is clear that the 'Foxconn Robotics Program has entered the final testing phase. The robot named Foxbots will be used first in the production of a new generation of Apple mobile phones.
However, from the latest iPhone, the craft and complexity make it difficult to get rid of the workers' hands, but at the same time, the rising labor costs make Foxconn a headache.
'Now Foxconn is a dispatched employee. It usually works for 55 days. You can get more than 10,000 yuan a month. This kind of salary can attract workers.” The head of Foxconn production line said, so this year we have a lot of energy. , you have to screw the machine.