Nikkei News quoted people familiar with the matter as saying that Apple's new iPhone development plan was delayed due to the impact of the epidemic, and Apple has now told its suppliers to speed up the development of new iPhones. Apple, Pegatron and Foxconn declined to comment.
The Nikkei said Apple's development of this year's iPhone was behind schedule this year due to disruptions caused by the month-long coronavirus lockdown. Multiple sources with direct knowledge of the matter said Apple has asked suppliers to speed up product development work to catch up with lost time, which in the worst-case scenario could affect mass production plans and initial production of the new phones.
From the current known information, Apple is preparing to launch four new models this year, tentatively scheduled for the iPhone 14, 14 Pro, 14 Max and 14 Pro Max. The iPhone 14 and Pro models will have 6.1-inch screens, while the Max and Pro Max models will have 6.7-inch screens.
The main iPhone assemblers, Foxconn (a subsidiary of Hon Hai) and Pegatron (a subsidiary of Pegatron), are responsible for a process called New Product Introduction (NPI). In the process, Apple and its suppliers need to develop a time plan that outlines the process needed to turn its latest design into an actual product for mass production in preparation. After the NPI, starting at the end of August each year, Apple conducts a series of verification processes on a tight schedule to meet the required mass production schedule.
According to Nikkei Asia, China's Luxshare Precision Industry, although not responsible for the NPI of the new iPhones, has secured some orders to produce two of the four models this year.
Pegatron's Shanghai factory was approved to resume operations on May 16, and its iPhone assembly plants in Shanghai and Kunshan are the company's center for Apple-related business.
The source informed that the four new machines are currently in the engineering verification test or EVT development stage. During this phase, suppliers design mechanical parts and manufacturing processes for the new iPhone, and develop a bill of materials (BOM) to calculate manufacturing costs. However, at least one of these models is about three weeks behind the usual schedule due to the impact of the outbreak.
Typically, all new iPhones will complete Engineering Validation Test (EVT) work within these days and enter the validation phase by the end of June, so that everything is ready for mass production by the end of August or the first week of September .
"If the development schedule can be accelerated and the next phase can be moved to around the end of June or early July, it is still possible to meet the mass production deadline in early September," another person familiar with the matter said, but that really still depends on Can this process catch up with the original schedule?
Qiu Shifang, a senior supply chain analyst, said that the operation of the entire supply chain in China has not yet fully resumed, and this may affect production, and may also affect the development of new products. It will take at least one to two months for the supply chain to recover.
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