Apple CEO Tim Cook attends an event in Beijing, China, 2019▶ Click here for a larger view
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on the 9th (local time) that Apple, famous for its thorough centralized decision-making structure, is increasingly relying on local engineers due to China’s prevention of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19).
Prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, Apple sent hundreds of American engineers to China every month to supervise and supervise contract manufacturers in China. Most of Apple’s products are assembled at Foxconn and Pegatron factories scattered across China.
According to United Airlines, until 2019, before the pandemic, Apple frequently dispatched its headquarters to China enough to reserve 50 business class seats on the San Francisco-Shanghai route every day.
However, the newspaper pointed out that Apple is focusing on localization as the COVID-19 outbreak and China’s lockdown over the past two years have made it difficult for most American Apple engineers to visit China.
China-based engineers have a greater responsibility than ever before to keep Apple’s product cycle on track, sources familiar with the matter said. Apple, which delayed the launch of a new iPhone model in 2020, at the beginning of the pandemic, has largely been able to keep pace with the release of new products since then, thanks to its reliance on local workers in China.
Foxconn Factory in Jiangsu Province, China▶ Click here for a larger view
Employees at Apple’s headquarters in Cupertino, Calif., are using live video-streaming to remotely supervise their Chinese factories and use iPads and augmented reality tools to help solve problems in the Chinese factories, the sources told the WSJ. .
Back in 2020, Apple’s US engineering team even guided Chinese employees by video calling them to show them how to assemble an iPhone prototype.
The authority of local Chinese employees is also gradually increasing. In the past, Chinese engineers simply reported information about the product and assembly to get the company’s decision, but now they are adding their own analysis and posting suggestions to solve the problem, the sources said.
Of course, key issues such as product design are still decided at the Cupertino headquarters, and although few compared to previous years, some of the headquarters’ engineers are still visiting China. However, the Chinese government is issuing limited visas for foreigners and mandating mandatory quarantine for several weeks, causing setbacks not only for Apple but also for other global companies.
Accordingly, Volkswagen, the largest foreign car maker in China, also decided to reduce the number of foreign employees in China by 30% and focus on localization.
Such localization of manpower could raise concerns among foreign companies about China’s ‘tech theft’.
However, Jörg Butke, president of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China, said that hiring local employees is only one of the various risks related to technology theft. said
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