Similar to how Apple is slowly trying to reduce their reliance on Samsung, Foxconn, a long-time partner of Apple, has also been looking to reduce their reliance on the Cupertino company for fear that Apple’s iPhone products will eventually stop selling as much due to market saturation. To that extent Foxconn has reportedly started looking at alternative sources of income, such as bidding for 4G spectrum, presumably to launch a carrier service of their own in the future. In any case it looks like Apple has decided that if Foxconn wasn’t that interested in their business anymore, they too would start looking for other manufacturers.
According to KGI analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, it has been reported that Apple is currently looking to diversify its suppliers and are looking at alternative Taiwanese firms to help them build iPhones, iPads, and iPods. Some companies that could be on the top of Apple’s list include Taiwan’s Compal Communications who has helped companies such as Nokia, Sony, and Lenovo design and manufacture their handsets; Wistron who has helped supply EMS services to BlackBerry; and Inventec Appliances whose role of supplying iPods could be expanded to include iPhones and iPads as well.
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