Apple has been beefing up its workforce in the East, most likely preparing for faster production, quicker development stage, and expansion of its product line.
The technology giant has reportedly hired hundreds of engineers to add operation personnel in China since last year. While the company did not disclose details about its manpower in the region, people familiar with the matter has revealed to The Wall Street Journal that Apple currently has 600 individuals on its roll of employees in China. Globally, the company has more than 80,000 employees working full-time as of September 2013.
The iPhone and iPad manufacturer will still do all the basics in its California campus but it needs to make sure its collaboration with suppliers and its assembly lines will be running without a glitch in the opposite side of the globe. It has been posting jobs for quality assurance, electrical engineers, supply-chain experts, among others since mid-2013 to achieve such goal. These professionals will help the company have a firmer control on how its partner companies produce components for its products.
"The hiring push reflects Apple's need for more engineers to work with Asian suppliers on developing components for iPhones and iPads as it plans for faster and more-frequent product releases. Apple also is increasing its number of supply-chain managers, following criticism over factory conditions at some of its suppliers," the WSJ report read.
The WSJ reports that Apple has been poaching professionals from rival brands HTC as well as other companies in Taiwan to properly set up its human resources in Taipei and Shanghai. In August 2013, it made use of the professional networking site LinkedIn to contact professionals from companies such as HTC, Quanta Computers, and Inventec.
It also cannot be discounted that Apple wants to make most of its opportunity with China and the region as the demand in the U.S. starts to plateau. With the sealed deal between China Mobile and Apple, we can only expect to see its sales number and market share growing.
During its earnings call in January, Apple revealed that it sold 51 million iPhones, 26 million iPads, and 4.8 million Macs. The first quarter earnings of the current fiscal year brought in $13.1 billion of profits.
Consumers can expect faster product cycles as Apple try to thwart Android's rule of the global market.
What's Apple cooking with all these hires? More iPhones and iPads, of course, and maybe some more.
