The iPhone's manufacturing process involves several components, such as the screen, battery, processor, and camera, which are all manufactured in China. The assembly of the iPhone is done in factories owned by
Every year, the company rolls out an updated manufacturing process exclusively in its Taiwanese plants, which Apple almost always uses for the chips in each year's new iPhone.
Still, most factories dedicated to assembling the iPhone remain in China. The largest one, operated by manufacturing partner Hon Hai Technology Group (Foxconn), is located in Zhengzhou and employs over 300,000 workers. By many accounts, the complex resembles a mini city more than a typical industrial site.
At the heart of the iPhone, we will find the A-series processor from TSMC. It is based in Taiwan but has other locations in China, Singapore and the U.S.
Currently, all Apple processors for the iPhone, iPad, and Mac are produced by TSMC in Taiwan.
But today, 75 percent of production takes place in East Asia. Ninety percent of the most advanced chips are made in Taiwan. China is doing everything it can to take over the global market so they can try to outcompete the rest of us and have a lot of applications — including military applications.”
As we mentioned earlier, Apple has been making its own chip for years. All the chips used in years of iPhones, iPads, and even iPods were mostly custom-designed chips developed by Apple engineers. Being able to design its own chips allows Apple to make huge gains in the overall performance and power efficiency.
Taiwan. The tiny East Asian country of Taiwan, whose diplomatic status is disputed by China, is the world's undisputed leader in terms of raw semiconductor manufacturing. This is largely due to the work of a single company, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.
The Apple A15 Bionic is a 64-bit ARM-based system on a chip (SoC) designed by Apple Inc. It is used in the iPhone 13 and 13 Mini, iPhone 13 Pro and 13 Pro Max, iPad Mini (6th generation), iPhone SE (3rd generation), iPhone 14 and 14 Plus and Apple TV 4K (3rd generation).
A production line in Chennai has begun operation, assembling the iPhone 14 for the domestic Indian market. The move, which marks the first time the company has assembled iPhones outside of China in the same year they were released, is part of a plan to disentangle its manufacturing operations from the Chinese state.
More than 95% of iPhones, AirPods, Macs and iPads are made in China.
For Apple, which produces about 90 percent of its products in China, there is no easy remedy. “This can't be fixed in the short-run, you can't build iPhone cities that easily in other parts of Asia,” Shehzad Qazi, managing director of consultancy China Beige Book, told Al Jazeera.
Taiwan makes 65% of the world's semiconductors and almost 90% of the advanced chips. By comparison, China produces a little over 5% while the U.S. produces approximately 10%, according to market analysts.
The M1 chip is the most powerful chip that Apple has created to date, and it is similar to the A14 chip in the latest iPhone and iPad Air models, built on a 5-nanometer process by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC). TSMC builds all of Apple's chips and has done so for many years.
For instance, the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (NYSE:TSM) - the world's largest contract chip manufacturer - has the bulk of its chip production in Taiwan.
TSMC is the largest semiconductor chip manufacturer. This company produces about 90% of high-performance chips across the globe. Also, it controls over 50% of the global semiconductor foundry market in terms of revenue.
Due to its strong capabilities in OEM wafer manufacturing and a complete industry supply chain, Taiwan has been able to distinguish itself from its competitors and dominate the global marketplace. Taiwan's semiconductor sector accounted for US$115 billion, around 20 percent of the global semiconductor industry.
Most of the chips that power Apple devices are made in Taiwan. The Apple CEO spoke at the TSMC plant under construction in Phoenix, along with President Joe Biden.
Samsung runs a NAND chip manufacturing facility in the Chinese city of Xian, but it has been given a one-year reprieve from the US government on the import of chip equipment to the plant.
Samsung, the world's No. 2 contract chip manufacturer, announced its Taylor, Texas, plant in 2021. It aims to make advanced chips for functions such as artificial intelligence, 5G and mobile phones, and promises to create 2,000 high-tech jobs.
China's two largest chip manufacturers, the state-backed Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation, or SMIC, and Hua Hong Semiconductor have each announced billions of dollars this year to expand production into mature chips, according to public announcements.
Examples of Chinese IDMs are YMTC and CXMT, examples of Chinese pure-play foundries are SMIC, Hua Hong Semiconductor and Wingtech, examples of Chinese fabless companies are Zhaoxin, HiSilicon and UNISOC, and examples of Chinese OSAT companies are JCET, Huatian Technology and Tongfu Microelectronics.
Why does China want Taiwan? Beijing views Taiwan as an inseparable part of its territory - even though the Chinese Communist Party has never governed the island. Chinese President Xi Jinping has vowed to pursue "reunification" with Taiwan by peaceful means.