Report: Luxshare Locked Out of iPhone 14 Pro Production
Image via Luxshare
9 to 5 Mac had some bad news for Luxshare on Monday. According to the site, the contract manufacturer has lost its high-end iPhone orders. The piece says:
Apple last year promoted Luxshare from a component supplier to an iPhone assembler, including some iPhone 13 Pro units.
This year though, anything Pro is a no-go for Luxshare. Citing a report from the Chinese-language United News Digital, 9 to 5 Mac says Luxshare orders will probably be limited to the base model iPhone 14.
Why do they think so? Because iPhone 14 is said to be in trial production and Luxshare’s not on that last.
You know, I might have buried the lede. iPhone 14 is said to be in trial production, by the way. Also, Luxshare looks locked out of the luxe end of the line.
A lot of alliteration for a playful person!
Feels kind of early to be talking about iPhone 14 production. Again though, this is trial production - making sure things’ll go together when it’s time to put a bunch of them together. 9 to 5 Mac says there are four main goals in trial production:
Test the planned assembly process to identify any problems encountered
Spot opportunities for improving efficiency
Collect data, such as the number of units produced per hour
Establish a suitable quality monitoring process
As for why missing out on Pro production is bad news for Luxshare - just as the Pro phones cost consumers more money than the lower end models, contract manufacturers make more money making higher end models.
Again though, it is early, and this whole thing could be wrong.
“Where Do You See Yourself in Five-Years?”
If you’re wondering about Luxshare’s plans for the future - nerd! But, it’s a slow day, so I’ll tell you anyway. A piece from Apple Insider says the company is planning to set up “new production lines aimed at smart wearable devices, mobile terminal components, and high-voltage connection systems for vehicles…”
More than one article I saw said Luxshare was eyeing Apple Watch production, though that appears to be a guess based on the company’s continuing relationship with Apple. And seriously - who wouldn’t want to be in on Apple production?
The only thing standing between Luxshare’s dream and reality - about $2 billion. Citing a Reuters report, Apple Insider says the company plans to issue as many as 2.1 billion shares to as many as 35 investors to raise the do-re-mi.
Another Fine Day for Apple in the Netherlands
Yesterday was Monday, which means another €5 million from Apple to the Netherlands. Since the end of last year, Apple and Holland have been in a back-and-forth battle over payments in the App Store. Specifically, the country has said that Apple has to allow dating apps in the App Store to accept third-party payments. When Apple failed to do so, the country said it would fine Apple €5 million-a-week either until Apple met the country’s conditions, or they hit €50 million, the maximum allowed for the perceived infraction under Dutch law.
It’s not that Apple’s done nothing. The company did outline how it planned to implement the third-party payment demands. The plans did not go over great with the Dutch. Apple Insider had the Netherlands’ Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) saying in a statement Monday, “We have clearly explained to Apple how they can comply… So far, however, they have refused to put forward any serious proposals.” And so, another Monday, another €5 million.
If you’ve lost track, we’re halfway to the famed €50 million. No word what happens then, except that Apple tries to claw that money back. When the company initially agreed to allow third-party payments for dating apps in the App Store in Holland, it did say that it planned to appeal the ACM’s decision.
France to Start Testing Apple Pay Express Transit This Year
Apple Pay Express Transit is slowly making its way to the Hexagon. iMore says Île-de-France Mobilités, the regional authority over transport in France, has announced plans to test Apple’s easy to use transit pay functionality for Apple Wallet on iPhone and Apple Watch this year.
For those not familiar with Apple Pay Express Transit, iMore says the feature “allows people to make transit payments without the need to authenticate via Face ID, Touch ID, or passcode.” It also lets users pay without touching dirty, filthy money which was neat when you could do it before the pandemic.
iMore says the service is coming to French transport “soon.” Indications are that there will be a testing phase this year, followed by a partial rollout in 2023 - going wider in 2024. To me, that does not sound like “soon.” Then again, Paris is a two-thousand-year-old city, so a couple of years is really not that long by local standards.
Report: Two More Apple Stores Planned for Seoul, South Korea
Image via Apple Maps
Apple’s eyeing another outpost in Samsung’s backyard. 9 to 5 Mac highlights Michael Steeber’s latest Tabletops newsletter. That has the Cupertino-company hiring for a planned store in eastern Seoul, South Korea. “For those not keeping track at home,” writes Steeber:
…that makes two brand new stores coming to Seoul in the near future. Positions for a different store near the city center opened last July. These new locations will reach new heights in architecture and double Apple’s store count in South Korea.
No word yet on exact locations for the new stores. And, of course, no word on when they’ll open their doors.
Makes sense, since we don’t even know where the doors will be.
Lincoln’s Dilemma: A Recommendation
I know we’re past the holiday weekend, but did you check out “Lincoln’s Dilemma” on Apple TV+? I caught the first episode. Really looking forward to the rest. The information is great and the style is… interesting. Stylized. Engaging, I would say. All four episodes are available now. Assuming the rest is as good as the beginning - two-thumbs up and… lots of stars.
Berkshire Hathaway Vice Chair Likes Apple Management and Customer Loyalty
Image via Yahoo Finance
If you’re curious why Berkshire Hathaway is so high on Apple, it’s partly the Cupertino-company’s management and partly you. Yahoo Finance had a few words with Berkshire vice chairman Charlie Munger. On the management side, Munger says:
I think Apple is one of the strong companies and will stay a strong company… I think it's ungodly well-managed…
As for the you part, Berkshire’s vice chairman said:
I judge the strength of the company based on how much the customers love it… And I've got zillions of friends who they'd almost part with their right arm before they'd part with their iPhone. That's a hugely powerful position to be in.
Washington Post Hears Quite Talk of Unionizing Apple Store
While Berkshire’s Munger praises Apple management, the C-Suite may have a whole new challenge on its hands - dealing with a unionized retail workforce. Engadget highlights a Washington Post report that says Apple Store workers in the United States “are quietly trying to unionize.” How quietly? Well, I reached out to one friend at one store. They say they’ve never heard anything of the sort, though - again - that’s one person at one store.
The Post, meanwhile, says it’s heard from folks at at least six stores talking union, with two of those “prepping submissions to the National Labor Relations Board.” According to the piece:
The pro-union workers have reportedly organized in secret to avoid possible eavesdropping and retaliation from Apple, using encrypted chats and even Android phones to keep communications private.
I’m sorry - wouldn’t an Apple Store employee toting a Samsung seem sort of suspicious?
The report says the central issue is money. While the Post says the pay’s not bad compared to other retail gigs, workers say wages haven’t kept up with the rising costs of living and besides, other retail gigs aren’t part of the most valuable company on the planet. The Post piece does note the recent raises some employees have received, tough some raises cited by the report were less than a buck-an-hour - hardly enough to keep up with the recent spike in inflation. Meanwhile, Engadget says, “Apple is apparently using managers to issue anti-union warnings, such as claims workers may see reduced pay and benefits.”
I will say - I kind of wish this story was from the New York Times or the Financial Times. I do not mean the author behind the Washington Post story any disrespect, but between the current anti-tech fervor in D.C. and the paper being owned by Jeff Bezos… I don’t know. It reads as if the writer is trying to get the reader to side against Apple. Then again, I spend so much time staring at Apple, I often worry that I’ve lost objectivity.
Power to the people, if they want to try it. I’ll just be curious to see how big a story this ends up being.
Report: iPhone OLED Supplier Faces Display Driver Shortage
Image: Brian Kostiuk via Unsplash
Another problem in the supply chain. But… you know… ’s gonna be great!
9 to 5 Mac highlights a report from The Elec, saying “at least one of Apple’s OLED suppliers for iPhone has been badly hit by a shortage of display drivers.” The site does a neat little recap of how we got to this point:
The world caught COVD-19
Folks needed/wanted new tech for the home thanks to work from home and not going out to have fun
Chip production was hampered by COVID-19
Demand for chips (especially from the auto industry) quickly outstripped supply
Just as Apple CEO Tim Cook often blames a lack of legacy nodes when addressing supply constraints, 9 to 5 Mac says:
The biggest issue is not with CPUs and GPUs, but far more mundane chips like display drivers and power management systems. These relatively low-tech chips are used in a huge number of devices, including [devices made by Apple].
Which leads us back to the display driver concern. According to The Elec:
Chinese display giant BOE is facing production problems in OLED panels for iPhones due to the ongoing global chip shortage, […] The shortage will affect production this month and next month, sources said […]
The Chinese display giant internally had aimed to ship over 40 million units of OLED panels for iPhones this year, another group of people familiar with the matter said. It is unlikely that they will meet this target now and its ultimate shipment numbers will more close to 30 million units by the end of the year.
How big a deal will this be for iPhone delivery? Without knowing the ins-and-outs of Apple’s supply chain, it’s really difficult to say. Missing by 10-million for the year is no small thing. Then again, BOE is only Apple’s third largest OLED supplier. 9 to 5 Mac says it follows LG in second and Samsung in first. So, who knows? It’s possible one Apple supplier can’t get the parts it needs because two other Apple suppliers are taking them all, which could still mean plenty of iPhones to g ‘round.
I did the whole “’s gonna be great” thing already, didn’t I? Yeah… I think I did.
TrendForce: Apple AR to Be B2B, Not B2C
Ahead of Apple’s anticipated AR/VR device, TrendForce has some interesting ideas around the space, and one idea that I hope is crazy. Let us first hit the interesting. In a press release last week, the firm revised upward its expectation for augmented reality/virtual reality device shipments this year. It’s now got those at just over 14-million units. That’ll be driven partly by “increased demand for remote interactivity stemming from the pandemic,” and partly by reduced prices for Facebook’s Oculus Quest 2.
While talk of the “metaverse” has companies excited about the space, “component shortages and the difficulty of developing new technologies” are said to be holding the whole thing back. And with no known products on the near horizon, TrendForce sees nothing knocking HoloLens 2 out of its lead position in augmented reality. Same goes for Facebook’s Oculus Quest 2 in virtual reality.
“Hold up. Wait a minute. What about Apple?” I pretend to hear you say. Quoting TrendForce:
Since the commercial market places more emphasis on the benefits of hardware and software integration, manufacturers that dominate commercial systems, software, and platforms have the advantage. Thus, Apple has become another focus in the AR/VR device market.
Now let’s do the part I hope is crazy. Consumers can get into an Oculus Quest 2 for about $500. Businesses can grab a HoloLens 2 for between $1,000 and $3,500. The release says “considering hardware performance requirements and gross profit margins,” TrendForce thinks:
…Apple will likely target the commercial market and adopt the same pricing strategy as HoloLens, hardware priced in the thousands of dollars and a monthly subscription-based software solution.
I can tell you why I think that’s crazy and why I want it to be. I think it’s crazy because iPhone and iPad. While not cheap, for a large number of consumers those devices were not out of reach. And consumers are who Apple targeted. Not that business couldn’t have them. Not that business couldn’t make use of them. While both have become mainstays of business, they were aimed at the average John and Jane. Difficult to image Apple taking a wildly different tack on a tech that Apple CEO Tim Cook has said will, one day, be as ubiquitous as smartphones are today.
As for my desire for the TrendForce take to be crazy: I want. I want. Gimme gimme.
Kanye West Rejects “Oppressive” Streamers Like Apple Music for Next Album
Image via YouTube
Kanye West says his next album, Donda 2, will be exclusive to his own Stem Player device, and that it will not be available on “oppressive” streaming services like Spotify or Apple Music.
It is hard to see how Kanye personally can call Apple Music “oppressive.” As a piece from Apple Insider points out:
…he has seen both success and support from Apple Music.
Apple held not one but three launch events for "Donda," when West repeatedly failed to release the album on schedule.
That’s not completely fair on Apple Insider’s part. While I’ve not checked out any of the launch events, word was that the album changed significantly between the first listen and the final release. He may have missed the scheduled release, but he was working on it.
Whatever the case, the follow-up will apparently not be in Apple’s stream or the others. “In an Instagram post,” Apple Insider says West “decried how artists get just a fraction of the money that the Apple Music, Amazon, Spotify, and YouTube streaming services do.” And so, the piece says:
…“Donda 2" will not be streamed on any of the major services. Listeners will have to buy a $200 Stem Player device to play the music digitally.
There’s more to this story. Another piece from Apple Insider has Kanye saying that he turned down an offer from Apple Music that, the piece says, was worth something like $100 million. Personally, I just… can’t… with that part of the story. It’s out there if you want to, though. Also, it’s out there.
Apple TV+ Announces Free Theater Screenings of “CODA”
Image via coda.film
If you want to see Apple’s Academy Award nominee for Best Picture on the big screen, you may have the chance this weekend. Engadget says the Cupertino-company is re-releasing CODA in theaters for three days. Those days are this coming Friday 25 February through Sunday 27 February. And they are charging nothing.
Best Picture is not the only award for which the film has been nominated. The film’s writer and director, Sian Heder, has also been nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay. And Troy Kotsur earns a couple of distinctions, first for being nominated for Best Supporting Actor, and second for being the first Deaf man to be nominated in that category.
The Oscars are in a little over a month - Sunday 27 March. You can, of course, stream CODA now on Apple TV+. If you want to do the theater thing, Engadget says screenings are planned for “major cities in the US” as well as London. While tickets are free, you will need tickets. You can find out more and snag those at coda.film/tickets/.
JP Morgan Notes Apparent January iPhone Sales Surge in China
Image via TipRanks
The Hosannahs and Heysannahs around iPhone continue. It seems the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology is out with its latest numbers of smartphone sales in China. Apple does not say how many iPhones it sells in a given period in China, and neither does the Academy… exactly… What the Academy does is list sales of imported smartphones. Since iPhone is the only smartphone from outside of China that sells in any great number there, folks tend to read “number of imported smartphones shipped” as “number of iPhones shipped,” and get happy or sad accordingly.
Apple watchers got happy on Thursday. Apple Insider highlights a note from JP Morgan analyst Samik Chatterjee. Having looked at the China Academy numbers, he sees shipments of international devices - aka iPhones - coming in at 7.3 million units last month. That’s way more than the historic January average of 4.8 million units.
But Chatterjee’s excitement is not just about last month. “Since October,” the piece says:
…Chatterjee writes that international smartphone shipments in China tracked at 30.3 million units, 20% higher year-over-year and 28% higher than the historical average.
And again - when we say “international,” we pretty much mean “iPhone.”
Chatterjee has a “Buy” rating on Apple shares. TipRanks puts his price target on Apple shares at $210.
Evercore: 2022 Starts Strong for iPhone in China
Image via TipRanks
JP Morgan’s Samik Chatterjee wasn’t the only one checking out phone numbers from China. Apple 3.0 ran part of a note from Evercore analyst Amit Daryanani. Like Chatterjee, he too had seen the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology data, and had seen the same thing as the JP Morgan analyst: While smartphone sales across the board were down a little bit in China, iPhone sales were up huge. Quoting his note:
Current consensus estimates are calling for iPhone revenue to decrease by ~33% sequentially and come in about flat y/y in the Mar- qtr, reflecting fairly typical seasonality in the segment (5-year q/q seasonality for iPhone revenue in Mar-qtr at -39%). We view this past month’s data as suggestive of a strong start to the quarter from an iPhone perspective…
Net/net: Amid a broader decline in the smartphone market for January, iPhones outperformed despite ongoing supply chain constraints, marking a strong start to the year.
Mr. Daryanani has an “Outperform” rating on Apple shares. His price target on the shares is $210.
BofA Sees 5G, AR/VR, and Old Phones Driving iPhone Sales
Image via TipRanks
Apparently missing the memo on iPhone in China, BofA analyst Wamsi Mohan found other reasons to be excited about iPhone sales. Those reasons would be 5G, AR, and VR. Seeking Alpha (via Apple Stocks) highlighted a note from Mr. Mohan.
While the world seemed surprised by the strength of tech sales during the first two-years of the pandemic, folks are ready to start buying harder. The piece has Mohan indicating that:
…replacement cycles for smartphones are “re-normalizing,” pointing out that a January 2022 survey found that 30% of respondents are likely to upgrade their phones every year, higher than the 23% in March 2020, but still below the 32% seen in December 2019.
Quoting his note:
Overall intent to upgrade to an iPhone has been trending positively with corresponding drop in intent to purchase competitor phones… Our survey also suggests that outside of 5G, the launch of AR glasses can further drive a replacement cycle for iPhone. This is supported by our survey wherein a large market like China, 20% of respondents showed willingness to upgrade to some model of iPhone supporting 5G in order to have a better AR/VR experience.
Also, a quarter of the people he and his were talking to were still rockin’ an iPhone 8 or older. That makes them ripe for an upgrade. Apple services are also seen helping to drive iPhone intent to buy.
Speaking of which, Mr. Mohan has a “Buy” rating on Apple shares. His price target on the shares is $215.
Some OtterBox OtterSpots Have Battery Swelling Issues
Image via OtterBox
If you have an OtterSpot wireless charging pack from OtterBox, there’s a warning about which you need to know. Engadget says the company has found that some early units of the device, released in August of 2019, may swell “under multi-stack and higher temperature conditions.” Kind of a bummer that since, the piece says:
One of the key selling points of OtterSpot is that it comprises a base unit and stackable battery packs, which you can use to wirelessly charge devices on the go.
The good news: No injuries reported around the issue to this point. According to Engadget:
The company is contacting customers it knows bought an affected unit, but if you have any OtterSpot battery packs, it's worth checking the serial numbers. If the number starts with 229, 250 or 259, the unit could be affected by this issue and it's worth calling customer service at 1-855-688-7269. OtterBox says it will replace potentially defective batteries at no cost.
FDA Approves Insulin Delivery App for iOS and Android
Image via Tandem Diabetes
News of an insane advancement for smartphones. Like, crazy in a good way. 9 to 5 Mac has word of insulin delivery via app. Not getting it delivered to the house. Getting it delivered to the body. According to the piece:
The Food and Drug Administration has cleared what is described as the first-ever smartphone application capable of initiating insulin delivery on both iOS and Android operating systems. The system here comes from Tandem Diabetes Care, and the application ties in to the company’s t:slim X2 insulin pump.
Tandem Diabetes Care has had an app for a while, but it could only be used to monitor “trends and historical data…” The feature will come at no additional cost to the pump’s users. It’ll roll out to a series of “limited launch groups” this spring. Availability to all is expected this summer.
Remember when the coolest thing you could do with iPhone was play Super Monkey Ball? Sometimes, the future doesn’t suck.
Apple CFO Nominated to Nestlé Board of Directors
Luca Maestri - Image via Apple
Apple’s Luca Maestri may be doing a bit of moonlighting, soon. MacDailyNews ran a press release Thursday from Nestlé, saying it has nominated the Cupertino-company’s Chief Financial Officer to sit on its board. Of the CFO, Paul Bulcke, Chairman of the Nestlé Board of Directors, said:
Luca Maestri has an outstanding track record in finance and strategic planning, which includes helping to build one of the world’s most valuable companies.
Knowing who he is, you kind of forget who he was. The press release says:
Prior to Apple, [Maestri] was CFO at Xerox Corporation and at Nokia Siemens Networks. He started his career at General Motors and took on increasing levels of responsibility around the world culminating with his appointment as Vice President and CFO of GM Europe.
He’ll get the up or down vote for Nestlé’s board at that company’s Annual General Meeting. That is set for Thursday 7 April.
Apple Music Replay 2022 is Already Out Already
From the people who brought you “I Heart Five-Minutes Ago,” 9 to 5 Mac says your Apple Music Replay 2022 is now available.
No, that is not a typo. A month-and-a-half into 2022 is a good time to listen back on the year so far, it seems. According to the piece, the “playlist shows the top 100 most played songs, the most listened to artists, and the top 10 albums of the year for each user.” Either mine is broken or I am. It’s only showing me 10 songs.
I think it’s broken. I know that there’s one song I’ve listened to more than the ten it’s showing me, and it’s not on the playlist. That said, I do want to listen to the list again and again and again, which is really going to stagnate my Replay 2022 playlist come year’s end.
If you want to hear how the year’s going for you, you can find your Apple Music Replay 2022 at the bottom of the screen under the “Listen Now” tab in Apple Music.
Amanda Seyfried Joins Apple TV+ Series “The Crowded Room”
Amanda Seyfried - Image via IMDB
Amanda Seyfried has joined an Apple TV+ series that I totally forgot was happening. It was almost a year ago that Apple issued a press release announcing “The Crowded Room.” Apple said then that the anthology series:
…will explore the true and inspirational stories of those who have struggled and learned to successfully live with mental illness. The anthology’s 10-episode first season is a captivating thriller, inspired by the award-winning biography “The Minds of Billy Milligan” by Daniel Keyes. It tells the story of Billy Milligan (…), the first person ever acquitted of a crime because of multiple personality disorder (now known as dissociative identity disorder).
Tom Holland, best known for playing Spider-Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, is onboard to play Milligan. Seyfried you’ve seen in such films as Mank, the Mama Mia films, as well as the 2017 “Twin Peaks” reboot/continuation. A piece this week from Apple Insider says:
…Seyfried will play Rya, a single mother, and clinical psychologist. She cannot help but put her patients first as she faces the most challenging case of her career.
Written and executive produced by Academy Award winner Akiva Goldsman, there’s no word on when “The Crowded Room” will land in Apple’s stream.
Apple TV+ Promotes Jon Stewart Show and Podcast
Apple seems to be leaning hard into the Jon Stewart promotion. About a week ago, the comedian, and host of the Apple TV+ show “The Problem with Jon Stewart,” hit Twitter to announce the show’s return. Now, the Cupertino-streamer’s announcing it again a bit more formally. In a press release issued Thursday, Apple TV+ heralded the show’s return - set for Thursday 3 March, as well as the show’s companion podcast. The streamer also posted a short trailer for the next round of shows. The trailer’s sparsely worded description says:
Stock Market.
Climate.
Race.
Media.
New problems. New weekly episodes. Starting March 3 on Apple TV+.
You can catch the trailer below.