Foxconn Begins Seasonal Hiring Spree Ahead of 2018 iPhones
Apple supplier Foxconn is gearing up to hire more workers for its plants in Zhengzhou, China by offering bonuses to workers who help assemble Apple's 2018 iPhones. According to a new report by the Economic Daily News, the supplier is offering one-off bonuses of up to CNY 2,000 (US $295) to workers who renew their contracts at this time (via DigiTimes), and the hiring campaign is expected to last through November 2018.
Suppliers typically begin their hiring sprees in the summer months in preparation for the annual fall iPhone launches, with Foxconn and Pegatron initiating hiring campaigns as early as May in 2016 and June in 2014.
The report also points back to the "weaker-than-expected" profits that Foxconn received in the fourth quarter of 2017 following the November launch of the iPhone X, believed to be due to the high pre-production costs of the smartphone. In an effort to prevent this from happening again in 2018, the supplier is applying "stricter cost management" to its iPhone production process.
Foxconn is expected to assemble the majority of Apple's three iPhone models coming out later this year, including all of the second-generation iPhone X, 90 percent of the "iPhone X Plus," and 75 percent of the lower-priced 6.1-inch iPhone. This news came in a report by the Taipei Times last month, which claimed that the rest of the 2018 iPhone orders will be fulfilled by Taiwanese manufacturer Pegatron.
News surrounding the ramp-up of iPhone production usually begins around this time of year, with the majority of reports typically hitting in August and focusing on iPhones entering volume production and the supply chain facing shortages. Other Apple suppliers have also been at the center of production ramp-up stories, including TSMC about a month ago when DigiTimes reported that the company has begun commercial production of chips manufactured using its 7-nanometer process, including Apple's A12 processor.
Suppliers are getting ready for what is expected to be a global launch of the 2018 iPhone models this September, following Apple's annual iPhone reveal event. Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo believes Apple will release all three new iPhones in September with an aggressive pricing strategy: the 6.5-inch OLED iPhone will be priced at $900 to $1,000, the 5.8-inch OLED second-generation iPhone X will be priced at $800 to $900, and the 6.1-inch LCD iPhone will be priced at $600 to $700.
Popular Stories
Apple today released iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4, the fourth major updates to the iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 operating system updates that came out last year. iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4 come two months after Apple released iOS 18.3 and iPadOS 18.3.
Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos.
The new software can be downloaded on eligible iPhones and iPads over-the-air by going to...
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices.
Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of March 2025:
Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone ...
Apple's big developer event is a little over two months away, and rumors about what we can expect to see in Apple's next major operating system updates are becoming increasingly frequent.
A public release of iOS 18.4 is also imminent with a number of updates and improvements, although we won't be getting the major Apple Intelligence Siri upgrades that had reportedly been planned for this...
Apple is reportedly working on a new Magic Mouse. Below, we recap what to expect.
The two key rumors for the Magic Mouse 3 so far include a relocated charging port, along with a more ergonomic design.
It was briefly rumored that the Magic Mouse 3 would also feature voice control, but that was misinterpreted information.
Relocated Charging Port
While the Magic Mouse switched from...
iOS 19 will not be available on the iPhone XR, iPhone XS, or the iPhone XS Max, according a private account on social media site X that has accurately provided information on device compatibility in the past.
The iPhone XR, iPhone XS, and iPhone XS Max all have an A12 Bionic chip, so it looks like iOS 19 will discontinue support for that chip. All other iPhones that run iOS 18 are expected...
With the second release candidate of iOS 18.4 that Apple seeded out today, the company finally provided us with release notes that give a full rundown on what to expect.
There's an Apple Vision Pro app, new Apple Intelligence features for notifications and additional language support, plus an Apple News Food feature for Apple News+ subscribers, and several updates that should improve the...
We've been hearing rumors about a foldable iPhone for almost a decade now, but it looks like we might finally see the device come to fruition in 2026. We're going to be waiting many more months for the foldable iPhone, but so far we're hearing good things.
Apple wants to make it creaseless. It's taken Apple multiple years to design a foldable iPhone that it's satisfied with because Apple ...
Multiple sources have claimed that iOS 19 will introduce a new design with more translucent buttons, menus, notification banners, and more, and there is now another clue that points towards this glass-like appearance.
Bloomberg's Mark Gurman today said the new design project is codenamed "Solarium" internally. A solarium is a room with glass walls that allow in plenty of sunlight, so this...
