Apple Planning New R&D Facility in Taiwan?

[iLilana]

keep in the US

WHy move overseas? keep it here.

 

[Reason077]

WHy move overseas? keep it here.

Who says they're moving anything? This is expansion. If anything, they're just "in-housing" work that was previously outsourced to their manufacturing partners.

 

[everything-i]

iPhone:

Designed in Taiwan. Made in China.


Is that what things are coming to?

Things are already there, Apple is currently the exception.

 

[whooleytoo]

Just wondering what are the advantages of having R&D facilities across different nations?

It's worth noting R&D is fairly broad - this could be high-tech materials/technology research or just localisation & testing. My guess is it's mostly localisation & Chinese-specific testing (perhaps improvement of location services) because of the importance of the Chinese market.

Also before, Apple used to make OS builds, which would then be tested in Tokyo, then again in Cork. So a developer in Cupertino could leave on a Monday evening, come back on Tuesday morning and his code has been tested for 2 full* business days - without anyone working night shifts. (* well, bar the data transfer time) There are benefits in having facilities spread across global time zones.

 

[Fairthrope]

The new center of mobile universe is moving from California to Taipei and Mainland, why Apple wouldn't go there?

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I believe it was a former Japanese colony, not British.

That's even better!

 

[Pompiliu]

It should be right in front of SAMSUNG facility!!

Why? So they can copy apple easier?

 

[Fairthrope]

T
My question, as someone who's been living in Taipei for more than 4 years now, is does this mean we'll finally get a #$#!#$! Apple store in Taipei? Those 'premium re-seller' stores are OK, but ultimately feel like cheap knockoffs of the real thing.

Maybe Apple tried but local Taiwanese carriers wouldn't agree to terms?

BUT, China Telecom made Apple blinked and agreed to their terms rather than Apple's. Should Taiwanese carriers try again.

Thai carriers got horrible deals when they signed up in 2008, at the height of iPhone 3GS fever. Perhaps yours can do better than ours, especially if iPhone 5S failed to become as popular as 3GS and 4.

 

[jonnysods]

I guess they can't use the 'Designed in California' hook anymore then?

 

[astroboy888]

If you want to argue "Taiwan is China". This is the correct phrase.

Taiwan IS the DEMOCRATIC CHINA!

Mainland China IS the COMMUNIST CHINA!

You have individual and human rights in Taiwan, but not so much in mainland China.

Taiwan is China, right?....Albeit no continental or the same country.....

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Apple is already in manufacturing in China. Its called FOXCONN. FOXCONN has 260,000 employees in China. It has few facilities making all kinds of Apple products.

TMSC there and continental China around the corner (bigger market and bigger assembly place), would make sense to have a R and D facility near. Chinese and Japanese technicians are very noted for their prowess....and being cynical, can cost a loss there than in the USA....

 

[astroboy888]

My guess (and its a very good guess). The Taiwan R&D facilities will be focusing on semiconductor, CPU, and hardware component design and testing. Also be engineers interfacing with TSMC for semiconductor manufacturing. The Taiwanese are expert in field and this is the reason why any company would set up R&D facilities in Taiwan.

CPU design is a relatively new field for Apple which has only started a ~5-7 years back. But companies like TSMC (and many other chip companies) have been building semiconductors for 40+ years, so there are a lot of experience in Taiwan which Apple does not have.

Analysts have no clue.

Probably will not be a full R&D center.
Apple designs systems here in the US.

Center will probably focus on supply chain management, management of the partners and prototype evaluation.

That makes sense.

Moving a portion of your team across the globe for development, makes no sense. 12 or so hours away means you never have a good time for meetings with the people on the other side of the globe. You also never get answers to questions quickly because you rarely work at the same time.

If you want to delay a project, try two teams separated by 12 hours.

 

[thetechnologist]

Well, the innovative ideas don't appear to be coming out of the States at the moment so why not try Asia? Apple has often been a bit timid about trying completely new ideas but now might be forced into it. So researching markets near Taiwan might be a better early risk indicator given the progressive tech adoption culture of that region. I lived there for years and know most people there will try out anything cool-looking like an... iWatch (hint, hint). Can't think of a better market to research and develop in.

 

[captain kaos]

Diversity of skill and backgrounds will help develop better products. Sometimes ideas outside of the U.S.A. are good too you know.

Perhaps they'll be closer to "the enemy". More chance of seeing whats going on with other phone makers.

 

[Klae17]

Perhaps they'll be closer to "the enemy". More chance of seeing whats going on with other phone makers.

No that's why we built McDonald's everywhere.

 

[Prissy]

If you want to argue "Taiwan is China". This is the correct phrase.

Taiwan IS the DEMOCRATIC CHINA!

Mainland China IS the COMMUNIST CHINA!

You have individual and human rights in Taiwan, but not so much in mainland China.

Taiwan is an independent country. Has nothing to do with China. Get the fact straight.

 

[whooleytoo]

Taiwan is an independent country. Has nothing to do with China. Get the fact straight.

That's not strictly true. Both the People's Republic of China and Taiwan (the Republic of China) claim to represent the entirety of China. Taiwan's constitution lays claim to all of China, while the PRC claims Taiwan is effectively just another province.

But you can't really say "Taiwan isn't China" as it's a bit more complex than that.