Apple is giving engineers in China extra duty over manufacturing processes

Apple is giving engineers based mostly in China extra duty in managing its {hardware} manufacturing processes, in keeping with a new report from The Wall Street Journal. Before the pandemic, Apple incessantly despatched US-based engineers to the nation to assist oversee improvement, however the report says the corporate now leans extra on China-based engineers given elevated border restrictions resulting from COVID-19.

However, Apple’s US-based engineers are nonetheless concerned with abroad improvement efforts remotely, in keeping with The Wall Street Journal’s report:

The iPhone maker has additionally adopted some know-how, together with live-streaming, that helps workers based mostly at its headquarters in Cupertino, Calif., remotely comply with what’s occurring on China’s manufacturing facility flooring, the individuals stated. Apple has used iPads to speak and augmented-reality instruments to assist technical specialists in Cupertino verify manufacturing facility points, one of many individuals stated.

And “key decisions” and product design nonetheless happen primarily at Apple’s Cupertino, California, headquarters, The Wall Street Journal experiences.

Apple is known for its provide chain mastery, and most of the factories it depends on for manufacturing are based mostly in China. But the worldwide chip scarcity and COVID-19-related disruptions, together with lockdowns in China, have thrown some main wrenches into the corporate’s operations — a lot in order that CEO Tim Cook stated in the company’s Q2 earnings call that it expects a income hit “in the range of $4 billion to $8 billion” within the present quarter.

Rumors recommend the corporate is engaged on many new merchandise for this 12 months, together with the iPhone 14 lineup, a redesigned MacBook Air (although experiences differ on if it is going to have an M1 or M2 processor), and the second-generation AirPods Pro. It’s unclear if the event of those merchandise has been slowed down regardless of Apple’s changes. And, if disruptions proceed, there’s at all times the prospect Apple could launch a few of them later than anticipated.