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UDN: Foxconn Stops Sending Chinese Workers to India

United Daily News (UDN), one of the primary Taiwanese news groups, recently reported that major Apple supplier Foxconn has stopped sending Chinese workers to its factories in India and has reassigned Taiwanese personnel. Chinese workers already in India have been asked to return to China. Foxconn has also paused the deliveries to India of key manufacturing equipment, and India does not possess the ability to produce such manufacturing equipment on its own. These changes may impact Apple’s production strategy.

The disruption to Apple’s production has further heightened geopolitical tensions between China and India, which have long had border disputes and economic confrontations. Some sources alleged that the Chinese government was behind the suspension of sending workers and equipment to India. Meanwhile, Foxconn is ramping up production at its Chinese factories.

Apple began shifting production of its high-end iPhone models from China to India in 2019. One factor driving Apple’s shift in recent years was China’s “Zero COVID” policy, which made manufacturing in China more difficult. India plays an increasingly important role in Apple’s supply chain.


Source: UDN, January 12, 2025
https://udn.com/news/story/6811/8484985

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Lianhe Zaobao: TSMC Suspends Supply of 7nm and Below Chips to China

Singapore’s primary Chinese language newspaper Lianhe Zaobao recently reported that, after Huawei’s AI processors were found to contain U.S.-banned TSMC chips, TSMC is suspending the supply of seven-nanometer and below chips to all mainland Chinese customers, regardless whether they are on the U.S. trade control list or not. TSMC has sent an official email to all mainland China AI chip customers, announcing the starting date of November 11 for the suspension.

TSMC’s decision is a huge blow to mainland Chinese AI and GPU companies and will have a significant impact on their performance and market competitiveness. Chip design companies in mainland China may have to find new foundries, which will lead to the reorganization of their supply chain. Mainland China’s current production capacity for advanced-process chips is currently very limited.

Bloomberg reported last month that semiconductor industry research organization TechInsights dismantled Huawei’s AI server chip Ascend 910B and found that a TSMC chip was part of the Huawei chip’s multi-chip architecture. Huawei was included on the U.S. trade control list in 2019.

Source: Lianhe Zaobao, November 8, 2024
https://www.zaobao.com.sg/realtime/china/story20241108-5315456?amp

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Lianhe Zaobao: Chinese Military Developed AI Tools Based on Meta’s AI Models

Singapore’s primary Chinese language newspaper Lianhe Zaobao recently reported that, in a paper published in June this year, six Chinese military researchers detailed how they used an early version of Meta’s Llama large language model (LLM) to build their ChatBIT model. These researchers named on the publication are from the Military Scientific Information Research Center of the Chinese Academy of Military Sciences, the National Defense Science and Technology Innovation Institute, the Beijing Institute of Technology, and the Minzu University of China.

The Chinese researchers utilized the Llama 2 13B large-scale language model released by Meta in February 2023. Combined with their own parameters, they built a military-focused artificial intelligence tool for collecting and processing intelligence to provide accurate and reliable information for combat decision-making. The paper states that, after fine-tuning, ChatBIT was optimized for question-and-answer tasks in the military field and that its performance exceeded other artificial intelligence models.

Reportedly, the Chinese models are approximately 90 percent as capable as OpenAI’s ChatGPT-4. The Chinese researchers did not elaborate on how they measured performance or on whether the AI model is already in use in the field.

Meta has publicly released many AI models, including Llama, and has imposed licensing restrictions on the use of these models. Specifically, Meta prohibits the use of its models for “military, war, nuclear industry and espionage.” Meta’s public policy director Molly Montgomery said “Any use of our model by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army is unauthorized and violates our acceptable use policy.”

A fierce debate is ongoing in the U.S. national security and technology community over the consequences of technology companies such as Meta making their models public.

Source: Lianhe Zaobao, November 1, 2024
https://www.zaobao.com.sg/news/china/story20241101-5283840

Briefings | | |   Information/Technology US-China Relations

RFI Chinese: TSMC Stops Supplying China’s SOPHGO

Radio France Internationale (RFI) Chinese Edition recently reported that TechInsights, a technology research company, discovered TSMC chips when disassembling Huawei’s Ascend 910B processor (which contains multiple chips). TSMC notified the United States after learning of the news. The chips ordered from TSMC by Chinese company SOPHGO are consistent with the chips found in Huawei’s Ascend 910B multi-chip processor. To protect U.S. national security, Huawei was banned from purchasing this technology. TSMC decided to stop supply after discovering that the chips supplied to this customer were ultimately used in Huawei products.

The U.S. Department of Commerce said it was aware of reports of possible violations of U.S. export control regulations but did not comment on whether there were related investigations underway. SOPHGO, which is affiliated with cryptocurrency mining equipment manufacturer Bitmain, did not respond to a request for comment. Huawei did not respond to a request for comment either. TSMC declined to comment.

Source: RFI Chinese, October 26, 2024
https://tinyurl.com/2uwaw84r

Briefings | | |   Information/Technology US-China Relations

Lianhe Zaobao: Nokia Reportedly Laying off Nearly 2,000 Employees in China

Singapore’s primary Chinese language newspaper Lianhe Zaobao recently reported that, Finnish telecoms giant Nokia has laid off nearly 2,000 employees in China as part of the company’s cost-cutting plan announced last year. According to an internal report from Nokia, as of the end of 2023, the company employed approximately 10,400 employees in Greater China and 37,400 employees in Europe. Nokia’s layoffs in China account for about one-fifth of its workforce in the region.

China used to be Nokia’s second largest market, but in recent years, with the competition from China’s domestic communications manufacturers and the ban on Huawei in European and American countries, the number of contracts between Chinese telecom operators and Nokia and Ericsson has decreased. In 2019, approximately 27 percent of Nokia’s net sales came from Greater China. Now the company’s total share of the Chinese communications equipment market dropped to less than 5 percent.
Nokia also plans to cut 350 jobs in Europe as it continues to reduce costs. And Nokia’s rival Ericsson is also cutting costs (including layoffs) to combat sluggish sales.

Source: Lianhe Zaobao, October 18, 2024
https://www.zaobao.com.sg/news/china/story20241018-5180057

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BBC Chinese: Huawei Announces HarmonyOS 5, Declares Independence from Android

BBC Chinese reported that Chinese telecommunication giant Huawei just announced its HarmonyOS 5.0 mobile operating system which, according to Huawei, is completely and independently developed domestically. Huawei claimed this is the third largest mobile operating system in the world, after iOS by Apple and Android by Google.

In the context of U.S. technology sanctions, the announced of HarmonyOS 5.0 attracted attention from experts who wonder whether Huawei can truly remove its past reliance on Android and even challenge the huge market share of Apple’s iOS ecosystem. Analysts expressed the belief that it is still very difficult for the HarmonyOS system to gain favor in markets outside China, and its expected popularity in China will not be seen as a surprise, as any new products by Huawei are backed by the Chinese government’s support for the electronics and semiconductor industry to be “independent.”

Previous HarmonyOS versions had compatibility with Android apps. Starting 5.0, Harmony apps must be rewritten in Huawei’s own programming language ArkTS. The extent to which app authors will support the new system remains to be seen, as the entire HarmonyOS Chinese market share is only 17 percent. At the moment, the new operating system has only completed testing and is not yet officially available in the global retail market.

Source: BBC Chinese, October 24, 2024
https://www.bbc.com/zhongwen/simp/business-69438203

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China Unveils Ambitious Space Science Development Plan for 2024-2050

On October 15, 2023, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the National Space Administration, and the manned space engineering office jointly released China’s first national space science plan, titled “National Space Science Medium and Long-term Development Plan (2024-2050).”

The plan outlines five major themes and 17 priority development directions, along with a roadmap for space science development leading up to 2050, divided into three phases:

Phase One (up to 2027): Focus on operating the Chinese space station and executing manned lunar exploration, the fourth phase of lunar exploration, and planetary exploration missions. This phase aims to assess and initiate 5-8 space science satellite missions and produce several significant original outcomes with international influence.

Phase Two (2028-2035): Building on achievements from Phase One, this phase will maintain the operation of the space station and pursue additional scientific tasks, including manned lunar exploration, establishing a lunar research station, and exploring the outer solar system. About 15 space science satellite missions will be planned.

Phase Three (2036-2050): By this phase, China aims to reach a leading global level in key areas of space science. It will evaluate and implement 5-6 large-scale missions, along with approximately 25 medium-sized and opportunistic projects.

Overall, the plan aims to position China as a key player in global space science by establishing a comprehensive and ambitious framework for future exploration and research.

Source: Sputnik News (Russia), October 15, 2024
https://sputniknews.cn/20241015/1062052529.html

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India-Made iPhone 16 Set for Global Sales

Well-known Chinese news site Sina (NASDAQ: SINA) recently reported that India’s Minister of Electronics and Information Technology issued a statement saying Apple’s latest iPhone 16 will be produced in Indian factories and sold globally. Prime Minister Modi’s “Made in India” plan is currently promoting the creation of iconic products for the world. Apple has been working hard to move its supply chain to India. The Indian government is also encouraging more companies to manufacture locally in India, and has reduced the import tax on parts required for mobile phone production from 15 percent to 10 percent. Apple currently plans to produce more than 50 million iPhones in India this year, including the iPhone 15 and iPhone 16 series.

Previously, it was reported that the yield rate of Indian factories is only 50 percent, which is far from Apple’s standards, and the sanitary conditions of the manufacturing facilities are unqualified. However, Foxconn Chairman explained that the yield rate of iPhones produced in India is no different from that in China. The 50 percent yield rate refers to the production of iPhone cases manufactured in factories affiliated to the Tata Group, not the iPhone yield rate.

There are currently four foundries for the iPhone 16 series, namely Foxconn, Luxshare, Pegatron and Tata Group. Foxconn and Pegatron have factories in both China and India, while Luxshare only has factories in China and Tata only has factories in India. From the perspective of production location allocation, China and India already have a 1:1 ratio. However, as Apple requires Foxconn and other OEMs to invest in India, it is likely that by the time the iPhone 17 is released next year, India’s iPhone production capacity will surpass China’s.

Source: Sina, September 12, 2024
https://www.163.com/dy/article/JBSQMSK10511DG68.html

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