On March 7, 2019, Apple announced the 2019 edition of its top 200 suppliers worldwide.
The Apple Supplier List represents 98percent of procurement expenditures for materials, manufacturing, and assembly of our products worldwide for fiscal year 2018.
These 200 suppliers accounted for 98% of Apple's global raw materials, manufacturing and assembly procurement amount in 2018
According to convention, I compared the two reports from Apple in 2019 and 2018, and
sorted out all the more than 800 factories around the world of Apple's 200 suppliers, and compared the differences between 2018 and 2019. One is the changes in suppliers from various countries, and the other is the changes in factories from various countries.
Let’s first look at the changes in Apple’s 200 global suppliers in 2019.
Among the top 200 suppliers in the world in 2019:
still has the largest number of suppliers from Taiwan, China, with 46, ranking first in the world;
has 40 suppliers from the United States, ranking second in the world;
has 30 suppliers from mainland China + 10 in Hong Kong, with a total of 40 companies, surpassing Japan for the first time in 2019, and tied with the United States, accounting for 20% of Apple's global suppliers.
has 39 suppliers from Japan, ranking third in the world;
has 14 suppliers from South Korea, ranking fourth in the world.
We see that there are 179 suppliers in China (including Hong Kong) + Taiwan + the United States + Japan + South Korea. The total number of suppliers in all other countries is only 21, so Apple's supply chain is actually highly concentrated in 5 economies.
If you look at East Asia alone, the number of Apple suppliers in China, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan accounts for 69.5% of the world.
The remaining 21 suppliers are distributed:
6 in Germany; Singapore and the Netherlands are both 3 in; Finland and Austria are both 2 in; Belgium, Saudi Arabia, Switzerland, Canada and the United Kingdom are 1 in each.
Let’s compare it with 2018. What changes have happened?
2019, 25 suppliers were shortlisted, and 25 suppliers were eliminated.
The following figure is a list of 25 new companies:
5 are from Hong Kong, China, 4 are from mainland China, and a total of 9 new companies ranked first in the number of new companies;
0 US new companies ranked second in the fifth;
Then South Korea, Taiwan and Japan both added 3 new companies, and 1 each in the Netherlands and Canada.
It is very obvious that China is the biggest winner, with the number of new shortlisted companies in Mainland China + Hong Kong reaching 9.
Next, let’s look at the 25 suppliers that were not selected.
There are 8 suppliers in Taiwan, and 8 suppliers in Japan were not selected, ranking first in the number of candidates;
There are 5 companies in the United States, and 2 companies in Hong Kong (Huacai Printing, Yingcheng Industrial) were eliminated;
There are only 1 company in mainland China that was not selected, that is, Shenzhen Hengmingda;
There is another British company out.
So in general, among the top 200 suppliers in the world in 2019, the number of mainland Chinese companies increased by 3 + the number of Hong Kong companies in China increased by 3; a total of 6 companies reached.
The total number of Chinese companies increased from 34 in 2018 to 40 in 2019, and
. At the same time, the number of Japanese suppliers decreased from 44 in 2018 to 39 in 2019, resulting in the first reversal in the number of upstream suppliers in China and Japan. China surpassed Japan's 39 with 40.
In addition to China, the biggest winner is Koreans. The number of shortlisted companies increased from 11 in 2018 to 14 in 2019, an increase of 3;
The Netherlands and Canada each increased by 1; the number of companies in the United States remains unchanged.
Then we look at whose number of suppliers has decreased, and only three regions have decreased,
is mainly Taiwan and Japan.
The number of companies in Taiwan decreased by 5; the number of companies in Japan decreased by 5; and the number of companies in the UK decreased by 1.
I made a picture. This is the simplest and clearest comparison. Here I need to erratate it. Last year, I wrote about Apple's top 200 suppliers in the world in 2018, and wrote the number of American companies to 41. In fact, there were 40 companies in the United States last year, and this year there were 40 companies.
The reason why I calculated one more last year was because I counted Ouvian Technology as an American company. Among the 27 shortlisted companies in mainland China last year, I have counted Ouvian Technology as a Chinese company.
Generally speaking, in the upstream electronics industry chain, the momentum and trend of China-South Korea rise, especially the rise of Chinese companies, has not changed. It corresponds to Japan and Taiwan, which have lost their strong local consumer electronics brands, and their upstream electronics industry chains have further declined.
Let’s take a look at the 40 shortlisted Chinese companies now, mainly looking at the changes that took place in 2019.
30 mainland Chinese companies are:
AAC Technology, Born Optics, BOE, BYD, Hongming Shuangxin, Ultrasonic Printed Board, Eton Electronics, Goertek,
Jiebang Industrial, Changdian Technology, Liyuan Purification, Jinlong Mechanical and Electrical, Zhongshi Weiye, Kesen Technology, Lens Technology, Luxshare Precision, Meiyingsen, Kaicheng Technology, Shandong Innovation, Shanghai Industrial Holdings, Desai Battery, Shenzhen Fuchengda, Ofil, Xinwei Communication, Yutong Packaging, Xinwangda, Anjie Technology, Dongshan Precision, Zhenghe Group
These 10 Hong Kong companies are:
Guotaidaming, Zhongnan Chuangfa, Chuanglong Industrial, Yilisheng, Lianfeng, Lingyi, Jinqiao Aluminum Profiles, Dongjiang Group, Tongda Group, profit-making
It is worth mentioning that the 10 Hong Kong suppliers selected in 2019 (of course, Bourne Optics is also Hong Kong-funded, but I am temporarily listed in mainland China), there are 30 factories in total, all in mainland China. Last year, the Hong Kong-funded enterprises shortlisted for the top 200 suppliers, a total of 21 factories are also in mainland China. This fully demonstrates that Hong Kong capital has formed a community of interests with mainland China in terms of manufacturing.
Next, let’s pay attention to what the newly selected Chinese suppliers do in 2019. Of course, to be honest, the most worth mentioning here is that for the first time, a company from the Northeast region was shortlisted for the ranks of Apple’s top 200 suppliers, which is a great thing.
This company is Jilin Liyuan Refining Co., Ltd., and it is also the first Apple supplier from the Northeast region in many years. The company is located in Liaoyuan City, Jilin Province. It was founded in 2000 and was listed on the Shenzhen SME Board on November 17, 2010. The company covers an area of 400,000 square meters and has an existing building area of 300,000 square meters. The total number of employees in the company is 1,500. Among them: 150 managers and technicians.
Company is mainly engaged in the processing of aluminum alloys and aluminum profiles, and has aluminum alloy casting workshop, aluminum profile extrusion workshop, aluminum profile surface treatment workshop, aluminum profile deep processing workshop, mold manufacturing workshop, heat treatment workshop, door and window processing workshop, glass processing workshop, special material workshop, etc.
The company provides Apple with laptop shells
In fact, companies in the Northeast region are not weak in technical processing capabilities, but the degree of marketization is relatively poor, and the system reform is relatively lagging behind. To make full use of their own advantages, there is hope to further expand their share in Apple's supply chain.
Automobile and ICT are core industries. The Northeast region’s active integration into these two large industries is more conducive to achieving balanced development across the country. In recent years, Apple's mainland Chinese suppliers have not only achieved quantitative growth, but also saw suppliers located in the mainland being selected as one of Apple's top 200 global suppliers, including Chengdu Hongming Shuangxin, Chongqing Kaicheng Technology, and Geely Source Refining, which was selected this time. This is undoubtedly a positive signal.
is also a new shortlisted for Beijing Zhongshi Weiye Technology. The company mainly independently develops and produces electromagnetic compatibility, shielding and thermal conductivity products.
is used in electronic products with thermal gaskets, graphite thermal films, thermal gels, conductive cloth pads, sealed and waterproof rubber, etc. A factory in Wuxi, Jiangsu was selected. The following picture is a product made by Zhongshi Weiye.
and the new shortlisted is Shenzhen Zhenghe Group. Shenzhen Zhenghe Zhongxin Co., Ltd. was established in 2004. It is a group company specializing in comprehensive technologies integrating hardware precision machining, hardware PVD, plastic PVD, hardware CNC, stamping, polishing, etching, oxidation, injection molding, mold, silk screen and pad printing, laser engraving, hardware water electroplating, hardware electrophoresis, hardware continuous plating, and plastic water electroplating.
looks a lot, but in fact it is a variety of treatments for metals and plastics.
In addition, Jiebang Industrial, the company is located in Dalang Town, Dongguan City, Guangdong Province. It is a professional manufacturer engaged in die-cutting products for auxiliary structural parts of electronic products. The main things are auxiliary structural parts in electronic devices, such as protective film, conductive foam, optical glue, insulating sheet, copper foil, aluminum foil, foam, graphite sheet, and keyboard glue.
Newly shortlisted Hong Kong companies,
Hong Kong Dongjiang Group, a factory in Shenzhen was shortlisted. This company mainly produces various injection molds for electronic products.
In addition, the Tongda Group in Hong Kong, China has been newly shortlisted. The Tongda Group mainly provides metal shells for consumer electronic products, including mobile phones, laptops, electrical appliance shells and related products. It is Apple's metal mobile phone case supplier.
2018 financial report, the company's revenue was HK$8.899 billion, an increase of 3.93%, and its net profit was HK$563 million, a decrease of 46.84%.
In addition, Zhongnan Chuangfa Group, which was founded in Hong Kong in 2006. It is a company specializing in the development of magnesium-aluminum alloys, ceramics, glass, stainless steel, touch panels, titanium materials, and high-end watch parts.
The company's technical capabilities are mainly concentrated in metal injection molding and touch panels. The three factories are located in Shenzhen, Suzhou and Guangzhou, and have more than 11,000 employees.
Another newly shortlisted profitable watch industry, which is a Hong Kong company that makes watch straps.
The newly selected Chuanglong Industrial Co., Ltd. was established in Hong Kong in 1990 and its factory moved to Shenzhen in 1996. It mainly provides traditional electroplating and vacuum electroplating and other metal surface treatment services for clocks, jewelry, glasses and electronic products. To date, the company has more than 1,000 employees, including a group of excellent engineers and technical workers; the factory area is more than 30,000 square meters. Overall, this is a small company.
We can also see that these newly selected suppliers in mainland China and Hong Kong in 2019 seem to not seem to have that high technical content. They mainly do metal surface treatment, metal shells and structural parts, watch straps, structural parts processing, and various conductive materials. There are no chip-type high-tech companies that we like most.
But what they achieved was a replacement for similar companies in Taiwan and Japan, which also reflects the overall level of improvement.
In fact, there are many similar companies abroad, such as Derkwoo Electronics, which was newly selected as Apple's top 200 suppliers in 2019. Its Chinese name is Deyu Electronics. This company is a circular lens protection metal ring for camera modules, a metal frame and bottom cover for mobile phones. There are also companies in China that can make this kind of parts, and it will be replaced sooner or later.
Also worth noting is that a considerable number of Chinese companies that were already on the list of 200 suppliers last year have increased the number of shortlisted factories to supply Apple.
Kesen Technology has increased its number of factories, and its two factories in Kunshan, Jiangsu and Dongtai, Jiangsu were shortlisted in 2018.
Another factory was added in Kunshan, Jiangsu in 2019.
Offilu factory has changed from 2 to 4, 3 are in Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, and 1 is in Guangzhou City. The two additional factories are all located in Nanchang. Ofilm is a camera module, fingerprint recognition module and iPad touch panel
Shenzhen Fuchengda factory has changed from 1 to 2, adding Dongguan factory, and
There is also a factory in Shenzhen.The number of factories supplied by Xinwei Communications to Apple has increased from 2 to 4 (2 in Shenzhen, 1 in Beijing, and 1 in Guangzhou), and the number of factories in Shenzhen and Guangzhou,
Dongshan Precision has increased from 4 to 5 (1 in Yancheng, Jiangsu and 4 in Suzhou, Jiangsu), and 1 factory in Yancheng, Jiangsu was added.
For example, Jinlong Mechanical and Electrical Co., Ltd., the number of selected factories increased from 2 in 2018 to 3 in 2019. A factory in Humen, Dongguan was added, and the other two were in Liaobu, Dongguan and Wenzhou, Zhejiang.
What is even more amazing is that my country's Changdian Technology Company, which is a semiconductor packaging company with a high overall technical content.
Compared with 2018, the company's shortlisted factories increased significantly. In 2018, the company only had one factory to become an Apple supplier. The factory is located in Singapore and comes from Xingke Jinpeng, acquired by Changdian Technology.
By 2019, the number of Changdian Technology selected factories has become 5 in one fell swoop, including one in Hsinchu, Taiwan, Jiangyin, Jiangsu, and Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. It is particularly worth noting that the first time the Jiangsu Jiangyin factory was shortlisted further, which further shows that Changdian Technology's semiconductor packaging technology has been recognized by the world's best electronic brands.
Next, let’s take a look at the changes in the global factory layout of Apple’s top 200 suppliers.
Why did we sort out the changes in the factory location? It is because since the Sino-US trade war broke out in March 2018, some news and concerns have emerged, that is, whether Apple's supply chain will be moved out.
The news that has appeared is:
1: A Taiwanese company has relocated its factory production capacity and output to Taiwan’s main island, and a large number of Taiwanese companies have expressed their situation of responding to the possible threat of the Sino-US trade war and diversifying production capacity evasion.
Taiwan obviously saw this opportunity. For example, on March 5, 2019, the Taiwan Executive Yuan government committee member said that more than 10 companies that returned to Taiwan to set up factories include Zhibang and Quanta, with a cumulative investment amount of 30 billion yuan. Of course, please note that these factories are not necessarily Apple's supply chain.
2: A Chinese mainland company went to Vietnam to set up a factory. The most typical news is that according to the information obtained by the Nikkei Shimbun on October 13, 2018, GoerTek, which assembled Apple wireless headphones AirPods in mainland China, intends to move the AirPods production line to Vietnam. China Goertek Acoustics has become the first Apple major equipment supplier to confirm plans to move its production line out of China.
3: Foxconn set up factories in Vietnam and India and began to produce iPhone
or above news together will inevitably make people worry about the outward movement of China's industrial chain.
Although from the overall perspective of global electronic brands, the share of Chinese electronic brands is increasing rapidly,
means "even if Apple's supply chain begins to show signs of withdrawing from China, it can also be compensated by the rise of Chinese brands to drive the development of local supply chains."
Because China's electronic supply chain companies naturally occupy a higher share in the supply system of Chinese brands.
On the other hand, Chinese brands prefer to purchase from Chinese local suppliers and local factories, which is also a common situation in the world.
But even so, when studying the global electronics industry chain structure, Apple's supply chain, as the world's largest electronics brand, is still the most valuable research. Let's see if Apple's supply chain is really withdrawing from China.
Let’s first look at the part of the factory. The factory is the center of manufacturing. From the distribution of the factory, we can also see the transfer of the industrial chain.
1: It is somewhat unexpected that in the past year, the number and proportion of Chinese factories in Apple's supply chain have increased significantly
Although there are factors of the Sino-US trade war, the proportion of Chinese factories in Apple's top 200 suppliers has increased.
In 2018, there were 778 factories around the world, 356 in mainland China, with a proportion of 45.76%
In 2019, there were 807 factories around the world, with a proportion of 383 in mainland China, with a proportion of 47.46%
Both the number and proportion of factories in mainland China have been increased.
We can also notice that the number of factories around the world has increased by 29, while the number of factories in mainland China has increased by 27. It can be seen that China's manufacturing power is constantly expanding and it has an absolute advantage.
For example, Japan's Alpine Electric, 7 factories were included in the supplier list in 2018, including 5 in Japan, and one in Malaysia and China. By 2019, 8 Alpine Electric factories were selected, with one more added. Where did it come from? One of the added factories comes from Chang'an Town, Dongguan.
Alpine Electric is used to make passive components and various precision components, which is also China's absolute weakness, but from the changes in the factory, it can also be seen that the number of selected factories in China in this regard is increasing.
For example, Taiwan's Zhengwei International (not to be regarded as Zhengwei International), which is a company that makes connectors, various cables (USB cables, mouse cables), power management and other products. In 2019, the number of selected factories changed from 5 to 6, all in mainland China. However, it is worth noting that the added factory is located in Ma'anshan, Anhui. There are 1 other in Kunshan and 4 in Dongguan.
For example, a Canadian company has been selected as one of Apple's top 200 suppliers, with the Chinese name of Siai Logo. The company was actually selected as a subsidiary registered in Suzhou, China. Its name is CCL Design (Suzhou) Company Limited
Its factories are 1 in Mexico, 1 in Chennai, India, 2 in the UK, and 1 in Suzhou, China.
Although there are suppliers from mainland China, the number of factories in mainland China has increased, and
, the number of Apple supplier factories in mainland China has increased, more because the number of shortlisted suppliers in mainland China and Hong Kong has increased, from 34 in 2018 to 40
. For example, Zhongnan Chuangfa Group in Hong Kong has been shortlisted for 200 new suppliers, and its three factories in Shenzhen, Suzhou and Guangzhou have also entered the list.
In addition, in 2018, the number of Chinese companies that had already been shortlisted for 200 suppliers has also increased, as mentioned above.
In addition, some Taiwanese companies that have "factories mainlandized" have also been shortlisted for 200 suppliers, resulting in an increase in the number of factories in mainland China.
For example, Taiwan, China has newly selected a Fuyang Electronics company, engaged in the manufacturing of FPCs. One of the factory selected by the company is located in Suzhou, Jiangsu. The newly selected Golden Arrow Printing from Taiwan, China is engaged in printing and printing. The three factories are all in Kunshan, mainland China, and are
Taiwan Optoelect Technology's global selected factories have changed from 7 to 10, and the three additional factories are all located in mainland China.
There are 9 mainland factories + 1 Taiwan factory in total.
These nine mainland factories are in Huizhou, Guangzhou, Wuxi, Tianjin, Dongguan, Shanghai Songjiang
Of course, some companies have closed their factories in mainland China. The most typical one is Nidong Electric.
In 2019, Nidong Electric Factory was selected worldwide in Apple's supply chain from 7 to 6, and Nidong Electric, located in Suzhou, has closed (to be precise, the polarizing film department has been dissolved, and other departments are still there). There is only 1 factory in Shenzhen left in China for the Apple list. If you have an impression, you will still remember the dissolution of Suzhou Nitto Electric. It became the largest financial news in the country in early 2018. However, interestingly, dozens of Apple supply chain factories were added in mainland China in 2018, but there were no reports. It may be because from the perspective of news, negative things are more likely to attract people's attention.
At that time, on January 11, 2018, the Ministry of Commerce also responded to the incident of Nitto Electric's closure of Suzhou factory.
Phoenix TV reporter: We are still concerned about foreign capital, because at the beginning of the year (2018), we saw a major event in Suzhou. Japanese giant Nitto Electric withdrew from Suzhou, and evacuated China, which aroused the emotions of workers. We saw that some analysts said that after some evacuation waves such as US capital, Taiwanese capital, etc., Japanese capital may also be accelerating the withdrawal and transfer. I would like to ask if the Ministry of Commerce will take corresponding measures? Everyone is also concerned about whether old industrial cities like Suzhou will be "hollowed" due to the large-scale withdrawal of these foreign capital. Thanks.
Ministry of Commerce Gao Feng: According to our understanding, the company you mentioned is preparing to adjust the production structure of its factory in Suzhou in the near future due to its own operating losses. A production line will be relocated, but the company itself will continue to exist in Suzhou.
We believe that when it comes to China's use of foreign capital, we cannot avoid the goal of just one leaf. In the first 11 months of 2017, Japan's actual foreign investment in China increased by 7.4%, and the amount of foreign investment in contract increased by 91.5%. Most foreign-funded enterprises are still optimistic about China's investment environment and market potential, and their investment confidence continues to increase.
I don’t think the concerns you mentioned about the “hollowing” of industrial cities. To be precise, it should be quality improvement and upgrading. Taking Suzhou Industrial Park as an example, in 2017, Suzhou Industrial Park has approved a total of 244 new projects and 157 capital increase projects, of which about 90% are high-tech manufacturing and high-tech service industries.
In addition, it is worth noting that the factory distribution changes of Hon Hai.
In 2019, Hon Hai added 5 new factories shortlisted for Apple suppliers in mainland China.
. Looking at the 2018 list, Hon Hai has only 24 factories shortlisted in China, located in Songjiang, Shenzhen (Longhua, Guanlan, Futian Free Trade Zone), Taiyuan, Shanxi, Chengdu, Sichuan, Zhongshan, Shanxi, Jincheng, Shanxi, Langfang, Henan, Hebi, Henan, Jiyuan, Henan, Zhengzhou, Guangdong, Foshan, Jiangsu, Kunshan, Zhejiang, Jiashan, Henan, Kaifeng, Henan,
is located in 14 cities in 8 provinces: Sichuan, Shanxi, Guangdong, Zhejiang, Shanghai, Hebei, and Henan.
In 2019, Hon Hai's selected factories in mainland China became 29, and the cities increased by Huaian, Jiangsu and Wuhan, Hubei.
Please note that in addition to the coastal areas, there are already 5 provinces in the mainland (Sichuan, Shaanxi, Hebei, Henan, Hubei) that are supplying Apple. Of course, the biggest winner here is Henan Province.
It is worth mentioning that Hon Hai's factories in other countries have changed. Among the selected factories in 2018, one is located in Sao Paulo, Brazil, one is located in Texas, USA, and one is located in Tainan, Taiwan. It is also the only three factories outside mainland China. However, by 2019, the number of factories outside mainland China has increased.
In addition to factories in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Texas, USA, and Tainan, Taiwan,
has also been added.
, one is located in Tamil Nadu, India, and one is located in Bei Ning Province, Vietnam, so Hon Hai began to make arrangements in India and Vietnam.
Compared with 2018, Foxconn's newly shortlisted factories, 5 are located in mainland China, one is in Vietnam and one is in India. So although the number of Foxconn's factories in mainland China has increased, Foxconn has indeed begun to deploy outside mainland China.
The second point is that the number of local supplier factories in Japan has decreased
The number of factories decreased from 139 in 2018 to 128 in 2019. Why have these factories decreased?
Of course, the first thing is that the number of local suppliers in Japan has decreased from 44 to 39, which directly led to the reduction of factories.
In addition, some Japanese suppliers have also reduced the number of factories in Japan.
Take Japan's JDI as an example. The company has 6 factories selected in 2018, including 3 factories in Dongguan, Guangdong, Kunshan, Jiangsu, Ishikawa, Japan, and one in Chiba Prefecture. That is, there are 2 factories in China and 4 factories in Japan.
By 2019, JDI became a factory in China with more factories, and another factory in Dongguan was shortlisted in Qiaotou Town.
At the same time, the factories in Chiba Prefecture, Japan have withdrawn from the ranks of suppliers, and the number of three factories in Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan has become 2.
This has become that there are 3 factories in China and 2 factories in Japan.
China factory: The number of Japanese factories has changed from 2:4 in 2018 to 3:2 in 2019. The number of factories selected by
JDI has changed significantly. It can also be seen that the transfer of the global display panel industry to China is indeed a major trend. Not only is the strong rise of China's local BOE, Huaxing Optoelectronics, Shenzhen Tianma and other companies, but the Japanese panel industry is also constantly shifting to mainland China.
Another example is 3M Electric in the United States, which is one of the fixed companies of Apple suppliers. In 2019, the company has 7 factories from mainland China, Taiwan, the United States and South Korea. The number of factories in
was less than that in 2018, and a factory from Yamatsu Prefecture, Japan withdrew from Apple suppliers. Did
3M Electric close this factory, or did the factory fail to pass the evaluation and cannot continue to supply Apple?
In short, it is really not good news for the engineers and workers of this Japanese factory.
There is also one factory in Japan this year, which is located in Japan, with 9 last year, and 8 this year (7 in Japan and 1 in South Korea)
In addition, Japan Fujikura Motor Company, 5 factories in Thailand, 2 factories in mainland China,
Last year, there were 4 factories in Thailand, 2 factories in mainland China, 1 in Vietnam.
factories in Tochigi, Japan and Vietnam disappeared.
Japanese Photos in 2019 had a total of 4 factories, all in Japan. Last year, there were 6 factories, and all in Japan. The number of factories in Japan decreased by 2.
The number of factories in Japan's Sunsuodian has also decreased, from 11 to 9, with two factories located in Saitama Prefecture and Tokyo respectively withdrawing, which means that the two factories that have withdrawn are all in Japan.
Of course, there are also companies with an increase in the number of factories in Japan, but they are basically local suppliers in Japan.
Japan Asahi Glass added a factory shortlisted in 2019, located in Chiba Prefecture, Japan, and the other two factories are located in Hyogo and Fukushima.
Suzumo Electric's shortlisted factory increased by 2, one in South Korea and one in Aomori Prefecture, Japan.
The most powerful one is Murata Manufacturing, Japan. The number of factories shortlisted in Japan in 2019 increased from 13 to 16. In comparison, the company currently supplies 7 factories overseas to Apple (one in Malaysia, and the number of factories in Vietnam decreased from 4 in 2018 to 2. There are still 4 factories in mainland China, 2 in Wuxi, Jiangsu, 1 in Shenzhen, and 1 in Zhuhai)
Of course, in general, although some Japanese suppliers have increased in the number of factories selected in Japan, due to the decrease in the number of suppliers selected in Japan, the number of main factories supplying Apple on the four islands of Japan is showing a decrease in the number of factories selected in Japan.
Since Apple is the world's largest customer of almost all electronics industry chain companies in Japan, the number of factories selected for the Apple supply chain in Japan has decreased, which is not good news for local manufacturing workers and engineers in Japan.
After Japan's terminal brand collapsed, its upstream electronic parts industry advantages are gradually fading, and it seems that this trend is difficult to reverse.
3: The number of factories in Taiwan has increased slightly:
Specifically, it has increased from 53 in 2018 to 56 in 2019.
Why has the number of suppliers in Taiwan decreased from 51 in 2018 to 46 in 2019, but the number of selected factories on the island of Taiwan increased? I think it is mainly due to the trade war that Taiwanese companies have experienced a slight capacity relocation to ensure exports to Apple. After all, Apple is the largest customer in Taiwan's electronics industry chain.
To put it more, whether it is Japan or Taiwan, due to the sharp decline in the global share of its consumer electronics brand, the largest customer in its electronics industry chain is Apple. Therefore, Apple is crucial to the Taiwan industry chain. It is no wonder that Taiwanese companies are considering laying out production capacity in Taiwan to avoid risks in the context of the Sino-US trade war.
Ankuai Technology, which makes semiconductor packaging, has opened a new factory in Hsinchu, Taiwan. Yes, Ankuai has transformed the number of factories in Taiwan from 3 to 4. The number of factories in other areas remains unchanged.
TSMC was selected into 10 factories in 2019: one factory in the United States, nine factories in Taiwan (3 factories in Hsinchu, four factories in Tainan, one factory in Taichung and Taoyuan each)
. In 2018, its factories in Taiwan were 7 factories: three factories in Hsinchu, two factories in Tainan, and one factory in Taichung and Taoyuan each. It can be seen that the number of selected factories increased compared with 2018.
Taiwan is indeed relatively strong in semiconductors.
Taiwan Kecheng Technology has opened a new factory in mainland China in 2019, located in Suqian, Jiangsu.
One of the other three is also in Suqian, and the other two are in Taizhou. It is worth noting that Kecheng Technology has also been selected as a new factory in Tainan City, Taiwan. In 2018, Kecheng Technology's only factories in mainland China were selected as a supplier factory catalog.
For example, in 2019, Delta, Taiwan added a new factory to be included in the supplier list, located in Hsinchu, Taiwan.
The other 4 factories are in the mainland (2 in Suzhou, 1 in Chenzhou, Hunan, and 1 in Wujiang, Jiangsu), and 1 in Thailand.
In other words, Delta has not been shortlisted for its factory on Taiwan’s island before, and this time it has strengthened its supply capacity.
Some Taiwanese companies have taken measures to transfer part of their production capacity to Taiwan’s island in the uncertain trade situation between China and the United States.
But overall, the scale of this transfer is not large, which can be seen from the increase in shortlisted factories from only 53 to 56.
After all, the global share of mainland terminal brands has increased significantly, and Apple's importance to Taiwan's supply chain is showing a downward trend.
The number of other Korean factories increased, from 35 to 41. It should be said that the increase in the number of factories in South Korea is still good, which is related to the increase in the number of Korean suppliers shortlisted from 11 to 14;
In addition, the number of shortlisted factories in the United States increased from 57 to 62. This is also an interesting change. Is Trump’s manufacturing return effective? No analysis is expanded here.
Manufacturing transfer threats in India and Vietnam?
is also the Vietnam we are most concerned about. The number of shortlisted factories has decreased, from 20 to 18; although the number of factories has decreased, there are more Apple suppliers setting up factories in Vietnam. There were 14 companies in 2018, and in 2019, Luxshare Precision added a factory in Vietnam and has been included in the Apple supplier list, with the total number becoming 15.
15 companies include 3 American companies, 6 Japanese companies, 2 Korean companies, 3 mainland Chinese companies (Luxxx Precision, Goertek Acoustics, Shenzhen Yutong Packaging) and 1 Taiwanese company (Hong Hai)
In addition, the number of shortlisted factories in India has increased from 5 to 8, and the number of companies that choose to supply Apple in India has changed from 4 to 7.
These five factories shortlisted in India in 2018 come from 4 companies, namely Wistron, Taiwan, Yutong Packaging in Shenzhen, Selkon, Finland, and Flextron, the United States.
The eight factories shortlisted in India in 2019 come from 7 companies, namely Canadian Silk Icon, American Flextron, Taiwan Hon Hai Precision, Finland Selkon, Shenzhen Yutong Packaging, Shenzhen Xinwangda, Taiwan Wistron Zitong
We can easily find that 1 of the newly added 3 companies is from Canada, 1 from Taiwan (Honghai), and 1 from Shenzhen (Xinwangda).
Therefore, my country's manufacturing industry chain, to be precise, is the transfer of Apple's industrial chain to Vietnam and India. There are only a little sign now, and there is no strong potential energy yet. It is also worth noting that Chinese companies are one of the main forces investing in Vietnam and India.
We can easily see it and make a simple summary:
First point: Under the Sino-US trade frictions and the measures that Vietnam and India have worked hard to attract the electronics industry chain in the past years, there have indeed been signs of Apple's industrial chain migrating to Vietnam and India in the past year. Apple's top 200 suppliers worldwide have already supplied Apple to Apple in India, and 15 companies supplying Apple in Vietnam, and the number has increased.
is also the indicator Hon Hai, which also supplies Apple in factories in Vietnam and India for the first time.
Second point: China's industrial chain's overall position in the Apple supply chain is still on the rise
Even with the increase in supply volume of 200 suppliers in India and Vietnam, the number and proportion of Apple's list factories in mainland China have increased significantly. The reason behind this is that the number of domestic suppliers in China has increased, which has greatly driven the increase in the number of local selected factories.
In addition, the strong rise of mainland Chinese brands has caused Apple's global status to decline relatively, especially in 2018, especially since the second half of the year.
, especially in December 2018, the Meng Wanzhou incident broke out. The United States lobbied its allies to boycott Huawei. For a time, Huawei became the company with the most mentioned companies in Europe and the United States, and also became the multinational company with the most mentioned times by mainstream media in Europe and the United States.
Due to the strong position of Europe and the United States in terms of voice, this greatly increased Huawei's global exposure rate, and unbreakable links the name of Huawei with 5G high-tech.
Huawei's terminal business with mobile phones as the core has seen unexpected and super-rapid growth worldwide.
On April 13, 2019, Ren Zhengfei said in an interview with CNBC in the United States, "Our terminal sales increased by more than 70% in the first quarter of this year."
At the same time, according to internal speeches published online, Huawei's group sales revenue soared by 35.8% from January to February.
Therefore, all Chinese electronic supply chain manufacturers whose Huawei is the main customer have all driven the performance, and the importance of Apple's supply is declining compared to these companies. Huawei has a strong demand for its core suppliers to stay in mainland China because it wants to avoid the political risks brought by Sino-US trading posts, which objectively prevents the migration of the industrial chain.
This shows the importance of mastering the voice of downstream brands to the development of a country's upstream industrial chain.
Starting from 2019, although the general expected Sino-US trade war will ease this year, the prospects and expected general trends of the two countries' economic growth towards more intense competition will not change.
In the visible future, the number of China's top 200 suppliers shortlisted in Apple's global market is expected to continue to rise, and the number and share of global factories supplying Apple in China will also increase accordingly.
However, this momentum will inevitably be affected by competition between the two major powers. Judging from the trend in 2018, both Taiwan and mainland China Apple suppliers have started plans to lay out some production capacity in Taiwan, Vietnam and India. Although this momentum is still relatively weak at present and cannot change the overall trend of Apple's supply chain still concentrated in China. However, in the future, if the situation is tense again, it is foreseeable that Apple's industrial chain layout will be affected.
Under external pressure, the era of localization of China's supply chain is accelerating.
Chinese local electronic brand with Huawei as its core. Stimulated by the Sino-US trade war,
also deeply realized the importance of supply chain security. As long as the raw materials of Chinese electronic brand companies float at sea, they will inevitably be threatened by the powerful United States and affect supply security. Therefore, it is extremely important to strive to lay out a supply chain that can produce normally in the local area.
Take SMIC, the largest chip manufacturer in China, as an example. Its point worth noting in 2018 is that with SMIC's overall sales increasing by more than 8%, the proportion of revenue from
from China reached a historical high of 59.1%, an increase of 11.8 percentage points from the previous year, which means that in 2017, the revenue in China was only 47.3%.
. According to sales, SMIC's sales revenue in China in 2017 was basically the same as in 2016.
It can be seen that domestic electronic brand manufacturers greatly strengthened their procurement of SMIC in 2018.
Regarding the top 200 suppliers of Apple's supply chain, I will continue to analyze it in 2020.
But I think 2018 is indeed a turning point, and it can even be seen as a turning point in the global electronics industry chain.
The Sino-US trade war that occurred this year can analyze the various turbulent impacts it has caused from many aspects.
I think its role in promoting the localization of China's local electronics industry is its biggest positive result. The impact of
far exceeds the negative impact of a small number of companies relocating some factories.
In addition, Chinese companies should remember the ZTE incident in 2018. They should not just because half a year has passed. Now that the Sino-US trade war is eased, they feel that the world is peaceful again.
should have a high degree of vigilance for developing an independent industrial chain and ensuring supply security, and should fully recognize its urgency. They should just seize the short peace period that they don’t know how long it will take, and be prepared against time.
After all, major events in history often happen suddenly one day, and the day before the incident happened, everything was still so peaceful. In 2018, Trump signed a memorandum to start trade frictions, ZTE was banned, and Meng Wanzhou was arrested. Who knows whether the next big thing will happen tomorrow?
