Now, in a change, the global technology giant is relying more on local engineers.
Most US-based Apple engineers have been forced out of China for the past two years by stringent border controls aimed at keeping the Covid-19 virus at bay. The new iPhone models were delayed in 2020, but have since grown with its annual product cycle thanks to a large-scale focus on localization, said people familiar with the matter.
People said Apple’s China-based engineers took on more responsibilities to keep the cycle going. The transfer of power underscores the growing technical expertise of China’s workforce, which has been honed for decades as Apple and other foreign companies train generations of engineers and technicians.
The iPhone maker has also embraced some technology, including live-streaming, to help employees based at its headquarters in Cupertino, Calif., remotely track what’s happening on China’s factory floors, the people said. Apple is using iPads for communications and augmented-reality devices to help tech experts investigate Cupertino factory issues, one of the people said.
Most Apple products are made by manufacturers such as Foxconn Technology Group and Pegatron Corp at plants spread across China.
People said that core functions such as key decisions and product design are still concentrated in Cupertino. And some engineers have managed to visit China, if only a tiny fraction of the previous number, one of the people said.
Apple did not respond to requests for comment.
Last month, Apple warned that the resurgence of COVID-19 in China threatens to cut sales by up to $8 billion in the current quarter. With many suppliers located in and around Shanghai—the city has been closed for more than a month and surrounding areas also facing stringent COVID-containment measures and logistical snarls—Apple’s supply chain in China has been disrupted for weeks. Is.
China continues to limit visas for foreigners and requires weeks in government facilities for those making it. This has prevented many companies from sending as many employees into the country as they used to for business travel or long-term employment. ,
In a survey released on Monday by the American Chamber of Commerce in China, 74% of respondents said the country’s harsh COVID-19 policies had affected their ability to attract or retain skilled foreign workers. A third also said that senior officials or essential foreign talent had declined assignments from China due to the latest COVID-19 outbreak.
The difficulty in bringing in the staff often needed for specific technical expertise could also have another effect, say industry veterans—running Western businesses that are looking to invest in new projects or production lines to help those in need. To be searched which are easy for officers or employees. the access.
Still, a localization policy is noteworthy for Apple, which is known to have centralized decision-making. Other manufacturers taking steps to localize more jobs include Volkswagen AG, the largest foreign auto maker in China.
VW plans to cut about 1,000 China-based expat employees over the next two to three years, its China CEO Stephen Wollenstein said in January. Carmakers still rely on expatriate expertise to bring in new technologies or get factories up and running, but China’s travel restrictions don’t mean many people are eager to come these days, he said.
A late April survey of nearly 400 members of the European Union Chamber of Commerce, released last week, found that 65% plan to localize midlevel staff, 62% senior employees and 60% junior employees in the coming year .
In a survey released in January by the German Chamber of Commerce in China, 30% of respondents said decision-making by their China-based subsidiaries had increased over the past two years. Eight percent said that the power has gone down.
For many foreign businesses, doing business in China – including hiring locally and conducting research and development – has long been a concern about technology piracy.
EU Chamber President Jörg Wutke said hiring local workers is one of the various risks associated with technology theft.
“The threat of individuals stealing technology can be managed through electronic checks and balances,” he said, adding that companies are dealing with other, more significant risks, such as China’s requirements that they store data abroad. Discloses information to authorities when shipping.
According to a United Airlines Holdings Inc. poster that circulated on Twitter in 2019, Apple used to book 50 business-class seats daily between San Francisco and Shanghai’s Pudong airport and was confirmed by the carrier at the time. The route contributes $35 million to United’s annual revenue.
But after the outbreak of Covid-19 in early 2020, Apple stopped sending battalions of engineers. That year’s new iPhone models arrived a month to two months later than usual.
To cope, Apple embraced technology to remotely manage manufacturing processes, people familiar with the matter said. As The Wall Street Journal reports, in 2020, Apple’s US engineering team used video calls to guide Chinese colleagues through iPhone-prototype assembly at factories in Asia.
China-based engineers initially served as the eyes and ears of their US-based counterparts, people familiar with the practice said, but they were gradually given more authority to solve problems.
For example, instead of sending product and assembly-related information from China to Cupertino, engineers in China must include their analysis as well. The people said Chinese engineers who would have usually reported problems to Cupertino in the past would instead send proposals to solve the problem.
This story has been published without modification to the text from a wire agency feed