iPhone製造商說，中國作為世界工廠的日子已結束

 Yahoo News on 12 August 2020 reported the following:

China’s Days as World’s Factory Are Over, IPhone Maker Says

DebWu

Bloomberg in 10 hours

(Bloomberg) --

A key supplier to Apple Inc. and a dozen other tech giants plans to split its supply chain between the Chinese market and the U.S., declaring that China’s time as factory to the world is finished because of the trade war.

Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. Chairman Young Liu said it’s gradually adding more capacity outside of China, the main base of production for gadgets from iPhones to Dell desktops and Nintendo Switches. The proportion outside the country is now at 30%, up from 25% last June.

That ratio will rise as the company -- known also as Foxconn -- moves more manufacturing to Southeast Asia and other regions to avoid escalating tariffs on Chinese-made goods headed to U.S. markets, Liu told reporters after his company reported financial results.

“No matter if it’s India, Southeast Asia or the Americas, there will be a manufacturing ecosystem in each,” Liu said, adding that while China will still play a key role in Foxconn’s manufacturing empire, the country’s “days as the world’s factory are done.”

Intensifying trade tensions between Washington and Beijing have pushed device manufacturers to diversify their production bases away from China, and Liu last year said that Apple’s most prized product, the iPhone, can be made outside China if needed. The two nations remain in trade talks, but Liu’s comments affirm a growing expectation that the China-centric electronics supply chain will fragment over the longer term.

The Taiwanese company reported better-than-expected net income of NT$22.9 billion ($778 million) for the quarter ended in June, boosted by increased demand for iPads and MacBooks. Revenue was NT$1.13 trillion, but Hon Hai warned it expects its third-quarter sales will be down by double digits relative to 2019 as Apple delays its iPhone launch this year.

Hon Hai is bouncing back from a record profit slump in the first quarter as production at its factories recovered and shelter-in-place orders spurred demand for home computing equipment. The pandemic likely boosted iPad and Mac sales, even as Apple store closures weighed on iPhone sales, Apple CEO Tim Cook said on July 31 after reporting quarterly revenue that crushed estimates. Apple accounts for half of Hon Hai’s sales.

Even as Apple outperformed, Hon Hai’s other customers have fared less well. Hong Kong-listed subsidiary FIH Mobile Ltd. said in its Aug. 7 earnings release that while Huawei Technologies Co.’s new phones have been popular in China, they missed expectations elsewhere following U.S. sanctions. Another key customer Xiaomi Corp. suffered a backlash in the Indian market amid growing tensions between China and the South Asian country. FIH lost $100 million in the first half.

Foxconn has been shaking up its traditionally China-focused operations. Hon Hai is among Apple assembly partners that plan to expand operations in India, potentially helping the iPhone maker grow its presence in the country of 1.3 billion and shift some of the U.S. company’s supply chain outside of China as ties between Washington and Beijing fray.

Chinese rivals are also posing a growing challenge. Local electronics titan Luxshare Precision Industry Co. is poised to become the first Chinese homegrown iPhone assembler after sealing a deal in July to buy an Apple handset production plant from Wistron Corp. While Hon Hai will keep assembly orders for premium iPhones, Luxshare will eat into the business for mid-to-entry-level Apple handsets, Fubon Securities analyst Arthur Liao wrote in a July 23 note.

Foxconn will work on its component business to maintain tech leadership and it also benefits from its long-term relationship with Apple, Liu said in response to several analysts’ questions about Foxconn’s competitive strategy against the rising Chinese supplier.

Orders could be further affected after President Donald Trump issued an executive order barring U.S. residents from doing business with Tencent Holdings Ltd.’s WeChat. Annual iPhone shipments could plunge 25%-30% if Apple is forced to remove the app from its app stores worldwide, TF International Securities analyst Kuo Ming-chi warned in an August 9 note.

Translation

（彭博社）- 蘋果公司（Apple Inc.）的主要供應商和其他十多個科技巨頭計劃在中國市場和美國之間分割其供應鏈，並宣布由於貿易戰，中國作為世界工廠的日子已經結束。

鴻海精密工業有限公司董事長劉揚表示，他們正在逐步在中國以外增加產能，作為從iPhone到Dell台式機和Nintendo Switches的精巧小玩意的主要生產基地。國外的比例目前為30％，高於去年6月的25％。

劉在公司報告財務業績後告訴記者說, 隨著其公司 -富士康- 將更多製造業轉移到東南亞和其他地區，以避免對進入美國市場的對中國製造商品的關稅升級，該比率將會上升。

劉說：“無論是印度，東南亞還是美洲，每個國家都有製造業生態系統。”他補充說，儘管中國對富士康的製造業帝國仍將發揮關鍵作用，但該國“作為世界工廠的日子已經過去了。”

華盛頓和北京之間日益加劇的貿易緊張局勢迫使設備製造商將生產基地分散到中國以外的地區。劉在去年表示，如果需要，蘋果最有價值的產品iPhone可以在中國以外生產。兩國仍在進行貿易談判，但劉的評論肯定了人們越來越預期的以中國為中心的電子供應鏈在一較長時期內會斷裂。

這家台灣公司報告稱，在對iPad和MacBook的需求增加的推動下，截至6月的季度淨收入為229億新台幣（7.78億美元），比預期好。收入為新台幣1.13萬億元，但鴻海警告說，由於蘋果推遲了今年iPhone的發布，預計其第三季度銷售額將比2019年有兩位數下降。

鴻海（Hon Hai）從第一季度創紀錄的利潤暴跌中反彈，原因是其工廠的生產恢復, 並且因禁出門令而刺激了對家用電腦的需求。蘋果CEO蒂姆·庫克（Tim Cook）於7月31日在報告季度營收超出預期之後表示，即使關閉了蘋果店給iPhone的銷售造成壓力，這種大流行病仍可能推動iPad和Mac的銷售。蘋果占鴻海銷售額的一半。

當蘋果表現正在出色之際，鴻海的其他客戶的表現仍然不佳。在香港上市的子公司FIH Mobile Ltd.在8月7日發布的財報中表示，儘管華為技術有限公司的新手機在中國頗受歡迎，但在美國製裁之後，他們未達到預期。在中國和南亞國家之間日益緊張的局勢下，另一位主要客戶小米公司在印度市場遭受了強烈冲撃。 FIH在上半年虧損了1億美元。

富士康正在改變其傳統上針對中國的業務。鴻海集團是與計劃在印度擴大業務的蘋果的組裝合作的夥伴之一，這可能會幫助這家iPhone製造商擴大在印度13億美元的市場份額，並隨著華盛頓和北京之間的關係破裂, 將這家美國公司的部分供應鏈轉移到中國境外。

中國競爭對手也構成越來越大的挑戰。本地電子巨頭立讯精密工业股份有限公司（Luxshare Precision Industry Co.）在7月份達成從緯創（Wistron Corp.）手中購買蘋果手機生產廠的交易後，準備成為中國第一家本土iPhone組裝商。儘管鴻海將保留高級iPhone的組裝訂單，Fubon Securities分析師Arthur Liao在7月23日的便條中寫道，該業務會蠶食由入門級到中級的蘋果手機的業務。

劉揚在回答幾位分析師關於富士康與冒起中的中國供應商的競爭戰略的問題時說，富士康將繼續其零部件業務，以保持技術領先地位，並且還將會受益於與蘋果的長期關係。

在唐納德·特朗普總統發布行政命令，禁止美國居民與騰訊控股有限公司的微信進行業務往來後，訂單可能會進一步受到影響。 TF International Securities分析師郭明池在8月9日的警告中指出，如果蘋果被迫從全球的應用程序商店中刪除該應用程序，則iPhone的年度出貨量可能會下降25％-30％。

               So, when key suppliers to Apple Inc. and other tech giants plan to split its supply chain between the Chinese market and the U.S., the production volume of iPhone parts inside China will decrease slowly.