Sina Technology News Beijing time on the evening of May 7th, it is reported that in order to meet the upcoming mass production of iPhone 13, Foxconn's Zhengzhou factory has raised the bonus of new employees three times in a month.
New employees on the production line will receive a bonus of 7500 yuan ($1158) if they work for 90 days and stay on the job for at least 55 days, according to a recruitment message from (iDPBG), a "digital products business group" at Foxconn's Zhengzhou plant. IDPBG is responsible for making iPhone phones for Apple.
This amount is higher than the 6500 yuan bonus offered on April 26th and the 6000 yuan bonus offered on April 15, which is more than double the 3500 yuan bonus offered at the end of March.
In response, Foxconn said in a statement today: "due to the company's policy and business sensitivity, we will not comment on any aspect of the specific operation or any work done for any customer."
Foxconn's payment of more bonuses to new employees is seen as an indicator of increased iPhone production ahead of the release of Apple's new iPhone phone, tentatively known as iPhone 13, in the second half of this year, analysts said.
By contrast, bonuses for new employees at Foxconn's Zhengzhou plant reached 9000 yuan in August and September last year. That is, 90 days on the job, 55 days of attendance, in addition to 3 months' salary and overtime pay, but also an one-time reward of 9000 yuan. That year, iPhone 12 was released on October 13 and went on sale on October 23.
In addition, Foxconn's move also shows that as the world's second-largest economy and the largest smartphone market, China is still very important to the global electronic supply chain of large technology companies such as Apple. This is mainly due to developed production infrastructure, a deep labour pool, and support from local government policies.
In addition, the increase in bonuses at Foxconn's Zhengzhou plant comes at a time when the assembly business of Apple phones in India, another major smartphone market, is being affected by the COVID-19 epidemic.