Foxconn is usually tasked with assembling “Pro” models for Apple, and according to a previous report, those plans remain unchanged with the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max. However, starting in 2024, Apple’s main partner is said to have lost privacy for the iPhone 16 Pro Max, with all orders said to be placed with Luxshare instead.
An analyst claims that Apple wants to reduce the risk by giving orders for the iPhone 16 Pro Max exclusively to Luxshare, especially after the accident at the Foxconn factory in Zhengzhou.
For the first time in history, Foxconn has not received an NPI (New Product Information) for the iPhone 16 Pro Max. Instead, Luxshare has been given exclusivity on the model, according to analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, posting his latest findings on his Medium blog. For those who don’t know, NPI is a long process of moving a product from a predictable stage to an actual product ready for the mass market.
Luxshare is already a secondary assembly partner for Apple’s iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max, and Apple reportedly wants to reduce its risk by giving it sole responsibility for fleshing out the iPhone 16 Pro Max. To summarize, Foxconn’s Zhengzhou factory is the largest assembly facility in the world and supplies all markets with 70 percent of all iPhone shipments. A series of lockdowns caused by COVID-19 restrictions, followed by riots, led to a sharp decline in iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max shipments in the fourth quarter.
This fourth quarter happens to be Apple’s holiday quarter, a period when the tech giant has a huge revenue stream and has lost billions due to this setback. Foxconn still received NPI for the regular iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16, while Pegatron received it for the iPhone 16 Plus. Because Apple believes that Luxshare’s production capabilities have reached the level of first-class suppliers, it is willing to take responsibility for handling orders for the iPhone 16 Pro Max.
Of course, it will be well compensated for its efforts, but these changes are said to be happening at Foxconn’s expense. Luxshare will reportedly ship between 45-50 million iPhones in 2023, with that number seeing a huge shift in momentum compared to 2022, when the Apple supplier only shipped around 20 million units. For 2024, the iPhone 16 Pro Max gets a new assembly partner unless Apple states otherwise.
source: Ming Chi Kuo
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