ihs Archives - Supply Chain Institute

The China-based tech giants, Huawei, is set to build a factory in France to produce 4G and 5G wireless equipment to accelerate supply chain efficiency.

According to analysts, the new facility will allow Huawei easier access to its telecommunications carriers in Europe, while also easing concerns over alleged spying for China’s government.

Stéphane Téral, executive director of telecommunications research at IHS Markit, commented: “At this stage of the mobile industry, it is critical for Huawei to have a radio communications factory somewhere in Europe to relieve the pressure on the existing ones in China. “We clearly see firsthand the disruption the coronavirus crisis is creating.”

It is expected that the factory will produce €1bn worth of products annually, while also creating 500 jobs.

It is thought that the company chose France due to the country’s ideal geographic position, mature industrial infrastructure as well as its highly educated talent pool. Peter Liu, vice-president analyst at Gartner, said: “The European facility will improve Huawei’s efficiency because the company will be able to integrate itself into the supply chain in Europe.”

The news follows Huawei’s launch of its 5G Innovation and Experience Centre in London which encourages increased collaboration between businesses and innovators in the development of 5G ecosystems. Victor Zhang, Vice-President of Huawei, added: “With the opening of our 5G Innovation and Experience Centre in London we, as a leader of 5G, are taking another important step. What we have opened today will enable true collaboration amongst UK businesses and technologists and showcase the huge potential of 5G applications for both the private and business sectors.”

Read more at Huawei’s European factory to boost supply chain efficiency

Leave your comments below and subscribe to us to get updates.

Facebook

Twitter

The Apple iPhone transformed the technology industry by popularizing the smartphone and blazing a path to a mobile future. But to do it, the company needed an important ally: a penny-pinching Taiwan-based factory operator named Foxconn.

Employing hundreds of thousands of workers at vast facilities in mainland China, Foxconn figured out a way to assemble the iPhone at a cost low enough that middle-class Americans could afford it. The business offered low profit margins, but the work buffed Foxconn’s financial results and cemented its status as the world’s largest maker of hardware for companies like Apple and Sony.

Those relationships are now shifting — and Foxconn is betting heavily to keep up.

On Wednesday, Foxconn said it had struck a deal to acquire control of the Japanese screen maker Sharp for $3.5 billion, after weeks of negotiations and high-profile setbacks.

The deal, for a 66 percent stake in Sharp, is intended to make Foxconn a more attractive partner for Apple. The American technology company uses Sharp screens, which could give Foxconn added leverage in dealings between the two.

The screen is an especially lucrative piece of the smartphone, costing as much as $54 each, according to estimates by the research firm IHS. Sharp provides roughly 25 percent of the iPhone displays, IHS said.

Still, the Sharp purchase will saddle Foxconn with an ailing business that will take considerable money and effort to turn around, some analysts say. Reflecting those problems, the purchase price is $2 billion lower than a deal the two sides struck just last month, after Sharp disclosed the potential for costly problems — nearly $3 billion in potential liabilities — down the road.

But Apple has been diversifying its supply chain, giving some production contracts to other assemblers and component makers. And Foxconn is grappling with China’s rising labor costs and a slowdown in the global smartphone market.

Read more at To Woo Apple, Foxconn Bets $3.5 Billion on Sharp

Post your opinions in the comment box below and subscribe us to get more updates.