Foxconn Technology Group, a major supplier to Apple, has a new head of its iPhone assembly division after a turbulent year in China.
This now underlines the company's attempts to prepare a new generation of executives to help it succeed in the post-Covid period, the South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported.
Foxconn's Newest Member of the Exec Group
Taiwan-based Foxconn announced Michael Chiang as their new division director on Sunday, Jan. 15, at their annual year-end celebration. Chiang will be taking over for Wang Charng-yang, who has been with the company for a long time and was in charge of iPhone assembly.
Persons knowledgeable on the subject said that Chiang was recently appointed to head of the A business group, while Wang stepped down to concentrate on a job on the board.
Chiang is reportedly a long-time Foxconn manager who has helped the business reach the high standards Apple expects.
According to SCMP's sources, Wang's retirement from his post overseeing iPhone operations has nothing to do with the Covid-related production problems that Foxconn experienced last year. Wang was selected to the board for Foxconn's flagship business Hon Hai Precision in the summer of 2022 and still serves in that role.
Based on a comprehensive interview with an insurance consulting firm that was put online in June 2021, found by Bloomberg, Chiang has a master's degree in human resources development from California's Claremont Graduate University. He has been with Foxconn since 1999.
Foxconn's major iPhone facility in the central Chinese city of Zhengzhou had extraordinary worker unrest late last year. Apparently, Chiang played a crucial role in negotiating with the local authorities and ensuring Apple's requests would be granted.
One Strategy for Keeping up With the Competition
Young Liu, chairman of Hon Hai Precision, made the appointment as part of an attempt to promote younger executives inside the firm to ensure the continued success of the company's supply chain in the face of increasing competition from Chinese rivals.
This decision reportedly aids the company in navigating persistent tensions between Washington and Beijing, diversifying its manufacturing bases outside of China, and fending off Chinese competition, too.
As Apple strives to diversify its manufacturing base in the wake of supply bottlenecks and stringent regulations that have plagued device manufacture in China due to the pandemic, Foxconn may encounter new competitors in India.
Chiang mentioned making three trips to India to establish Foxconn's manufacturing operations there, according to the 2021 interview.
"The biggest challenge we face in India is cultural shock, including its caste system. It's brand new to us," Chiang stated.
In the interview, Chiang also shared some insights into how the iPhone is put together.
Chiang remarked, "For Chinese Android phones, we only have to assign 100 workers per production line, but we need 1,200 for the iPhone." This statistic highlights Apple's stringent requirements.
