Foxconn Replaces Head Of iPhone Assembly – Report

Foxconn Technology has shaken up the senior management of its iPhone assembly business, following recent disruptions in China.

Bloomberg reported (citing people familiar with the matter) that the Taiwanese firm has appointed a new boss for its iPhone assembly business, namely Michael Chiang.

Chiang succeeds long-time leader Wang Charng-yang as head of the division responsible for iPhone assembly.

New appointment

According to Bloomberg, Michael Chiang was recently promoted to chief of the A business group as Wang steps back to focus on a role on the board.

The appointment of Chiang is part of Foxconn Chairman Young Liu’s efforts to elevate younger executives to maintain the company’s supply chain leadership in the face of growing competition from Chinese contenders, Bloomberg reported.

However the shakeup comes after Foxconn’s plant in China’s Zhengzhou city, the world’s largest manufacturing facility of Apple iPhones, was heavily impacted late last year after a Covid-19 outbreak and restrictions taken to control the virus, which prompted thousands of workers to flee the factory.

Efforts to replenish staff led to protests that turned violent as the new hires said they had been misled about compensation.

Production restored?

The good news is that factory is now said to be back to full production (it assembles 500,000 iPhones per day), with December shipments reaching about 90 percent of initial plans.

However the disruption has reportedly led Apple to accelerate its plans to shift some production to India and Vietnam.

The Financial Times has recently reported that Apple is close to signing a deal with Chinese contract manufacturer Luxshare Precision Industry Co Ltd to also assemble iPhone models, to make up for lost production at Foxconn’s Zhengzhou factory in 2022.