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Recently, the news of Foxconn's recruitment in Zhengzhou has attracted widespread attention. There have also been many market news about Foxconn assembling iPhones in India.appleThis year, the iPhone 16 series high-end models iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max will be assembled in India through its partners. Later, there were rumors that the yield rate of iPhones produced in India was only 50%, so Foxconn returned to Henan.

Hon Hai is the parent company of Foxconn. According to reports from China Business News and The Paper, on August 23, Liu Yangwei, chairman of Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd. (Hon Hai, 2317.TW) and Foxconn Technology Group, responded. In an interview with the media, he said:“There is no difference between Indian manufacturing and mainland China manufacturing. Many of the claims outside are not true.If it's 50%, I would have withdrawn long ago. If I didn't, my clients would have asked me to withdraw."

Liu Yangwei also responded to questions such as whether the iPhone 16 is ready for mass production and "Foxconn returns to Henan" in the interview. Liu Yangwei said: I will not comment on a single customer or product. However, the peak season has been the norm in recent months, and Foxconn is also making relevant preparations. There is nothing unusual, and it is not only mobile phones (entering the peak season), but also other products.

"We have never (intended) to leave Henan. Henan is our largest factory in mainland China. In the past, some people wanted to 'smear Foxconn', but what they said was not true. At its peak, Hon Hai had more than 400,000 employees in Henan. How could such a large factory be withdrawn at will? However, the product line has high and low cycles. During the low period, of course there are not many people. Some people go to the vicinity of the factory at night and say that their business is not good. Why don't they go to the daytime? Hon Hai has no intention of withdrawing from Henan."

Foxconn Zhengzhou has indeed entered the peak recruitment season recently, which indicates that product production has also entered the peak season.

The Zhengzhou Foxconn recruitment official account "Zhengzhou Fugonglian Recruitment" has been releasing "the highest price of the year" recruitment information for several days. According to the recruitment information released on August 24 by the official account, there are two modes of working in the Zhengzhou Foxconn Port Area Business Group A. One is a high-priced hourly worker with a salary of 25 yuan per hour plus a subsidy of 200 yuan. The other is a rebate worker with a base salary of 2,100 yuan plus subsidies and overtime pay. After working for 3 months, you will receive a rebate plus a subsidy of 500 yuan. The total rebate plus the 500 yuan subsidy is between 6,500 yuan and 8,000 yuan. The 8,000 yuan incentive is for old employees.

It is reported that Foxconn is the largest OEM for Apple iPhone and the main OEM for high-end Pro series models. Foxconn has three factories in Zhengzhou City, Henan Province, namely the Aviation Port Factory, Economic Development Factory and Baisha Town Factory. The largest Aviation Port Factory mainly produces smartphones. Business Group A is the former iDPBG Business Group. It is reported that the iDPBG Business Group is responsible for Apple's iPhone assembly business. As we all know, Apple launches new phones in September every year. According to production rules, September to December every year is Foxconn's peak production season. Starting from May to June, Foxconn has been recruiting workers one after another. From July to August, Foxconn in various places began to recruit a large number of dispatched workers.

According to the official website of the Henan Provincial Government, Foxconn officially settled in Zhengzhou in 2010 and has provided a large number of employment opportunities for Henan over the years. As of 2013, Foxconn's Zhengzhou campus had more than 300,000 employees, and more than 90% of them were from Henan. According to local media reports, by 2023, the number of employees in the Foxconn Zhengzhou Science Park will stabilize at around 200,000.

The arrival of Foxconn has made Zhengzhou a gathering place for the electronic information industry and an important mobile phone production base. In 2011, the second year after Foxconn landed in Zhengzhou, the Zhengzhou Statistics Bureau disclosed mobile phone production as a separate data in its annual statistical bulletin for the first time. In that year, Zhengzhou produced 24.45 million mobile phones. In the following years, Zhengzhou's mobile phone production increased exponentially, reaching 68.46 million units in 2012 and 96.45 million units in 2013. Just three years later, in 2014, Zhengzhou's mobile phone production exceeded 100 million, reaching 119 million units.The peak was in 2017, when Zhengzhou's mobile phone production reached nearly 300 million units.

A large part of these mobile phones are exported overseas. For example, in 2020, the year for which statistics are available, the number of mobile phones exported from Zhengzhou accounted for 68% of the number of mobile phones produced. Foxconn's huge export volume has also driven up Henan's overall exports.

In January 2023, a report reprinted on the official website of the Henan Provincial Government showed thatFoxconn's import and export volume accounts for about 60% of the province's total import and export volume and 80% of Zhengzhou's total import and export volume.In January 2023, the relevant person in charge of the Zhengzhou Aviation Port Comprehensive Bonded Zone and Port Services Bureau introduced that Foxconn's mobile phone production capacity at that time rose to 500,000 units per day, which was basically the same as the same period in 2022, and the total import and export volume for the whole year was more than 460 billion yuan. It is also reported that since entering Zhengzhou in 2010, Foxconn and Henan have continuously deepened cooperation, worked hand in hand, and achieved fruitful results. In 2023, the output value of Foxconn Zhengzhou Science and Technology Park reached a new high, achieving "twelve consecutive increases", and helped Zhengzhou Xinzheng Comprehensive Bonded Zone's foreign trade import and export scale to jump to the first place in the country.

As China's labor costs rise and the international environment changes, some companies have moved their factories to Southeast Asia and India. Foxconn has also built new factories in India and Vietnam, planning to produce Apple products locally, sparking speculation of "Foxconn leaving".

However, Apple has indeed transferred some of its production capacity to some overseas regions in recent years. According to data provided by market research firm Counterpoint Research, in 2022, Apple's iPhone, AirPods, Mac and iPad production in China accounted for 96%, 95%, 98% and 98% respectively, while the figures for India were 4%, 0%, 1% and 0%. However, in 2023, the agency expects that the share of Indian manufacturing in the above-mentioned Apple products will change to 7%, 2%, 3% and 3%.

In addition to producing iPhones, Foxconn is currently more concerned about "new business" in Zhengzhou.

The 2023 annual report of Foxconn's parent company Hon Hai Technology Group shows that the company will "promote the transformation and upgrading plan from labor-intensive industries to brain-intensive 'F1.0, F2.0, 3.0'", while focusing on the "3+3 fields" - namely the three emerging industries of "electric vehicles, digital health, and robots" and the three new technologies of "artificial intelligence, semiconductors, and new generation mobile communications."

It is reported that from February to April 2023, Foxconn Chairman Liu Yangwei visited Henan three times in just over 60 days, promising to "recreate a 'new Foxconn' in Henan". On April 25, 2023, Foxconn's new business headquarters was unveiled in Zhengzhou. Foxconn announced that it would implement the "3+3" strategy to build the Zhengzhou base into a core base and important benchmark for Foxconn's global innovation and industrial layout.

Since then, some specific projects have begun to be implemented.

On June 16, 2023, Foxconn New Business Development Group Co., Ltd. was established with a registered capital of RMB 1 billion.New Energy VehiclesOn January 4, 2024, Henan Foxconn New Energy Vehicle Industry Development Company was established with a registered capital of 500 million yuan, further focusing on the new energy vehicle industry.

According to the "Henan News", on July 22, the Henan Provincial Government and Foxconn signed a strategic cooperation agreement in Zhengzhou. Henan Provincial Party Secretary Lou Yangsheng attended the signing ceremony and witnessed the signing of the cooperation agreement. Henan Governor Wang Kai and Foxconn Chairman Liu Yangwei signed the contract on behalf of both parties.

According to the agreement, the Henan Provincial Government supports Foxconn in building its new headquarters in Zhengzhou. The first phase of the project is located in Zhengdong New District, with a construction area of ​​about 70,000 square meters and a total investment of about 1 billion yuan.

An insider told the Daily Economic News reporter: "Foxconn Chairman Liu Yangwei arrived in Zhengzhou on July 21 and left on July 24. It is very rare for him to stay in one place for four consecutive days."

Focusing on the implementation of the "3+3" strategy, Foxconn will also deploy electric vehicle pilot production center, solid-state battery and other projects in Zhengzhou Airport Economic Zone in the near future. On July 23, the groundbreaking ceremony of Foxconn's new energy vehicle pilot production center was held in Zhengzhou Airport Economic Zone.

edit|Cheng Peng Du Hengfeng

Proofreading|Zhao Qing

Cover image source: Visual China (data map)

Daily Economic News is compiled from The Paper (reporter: Wu Yuxin), China Business Network (reporter: Zheng Xutong), Meijing App (reporters: Tang Jun, Wang Jiafei, Wang Jing) and Jiemian News

Daily Economic News