The growing tension between China and Taiwan could affect the iPhone 14 production process. With each side of this conflict playing a great role in the production of iPhone devices, the upcoming series might just be at risk. There are a few factors to consider when pointing to Apple as being a company that might feel the effect of this growing tension.
Over the years, both countries have played important roles in the smartphone industry, helping a host of companies in producing components for their devices. Taiwan in its part is a top player in the manufacturing of chips. This is so because they are the founding countries for the likes of TSMC and Foxconn. China on the other hand is the manufacturing country for most smartphones in the world, such as the iPhone.
Read also: TSMC and India’s cooperation will help the development of future semiconductors.
If this tension continues, the production of the iPhone 14 series will see a drastic diversification. Already, Apple is making efforts to move the chip production to the Foxconn Indian site instead of TSMC. According to our sources, Apple told its suppliers in Taiwan that “when shipping parts and components to China, they must comply with China’s new regulations.”
These regulations include labelling all chips that come from their factory as made in “Taiwan, China” or “Chinese Taipai.” This turns out to be the only way to get chips for the iPhone 14 production from Taiwan to China. If TSMC denies granting this request, then the chip order will see a shift to another supplier other than Taiwan. This shift might affect the production of the next-generation iPhones.
