Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

iPhone maker Wistron quits, saying Apple didn't let it make a profit

9to5mac.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

61–70 of 170 posts

Re: iPhone maker Wistron quits, saying Apple didn't let it make a profit

#61

Post by smoldesu »

CharlesW wrote: post #31
s1mon wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, that's certainly a valid reaction, and is likely partially true. It's also true that Apple is very well known for very hard negotiation and squeezing their suppliers until there's only a few percent margin. You'd have to be insanely good at controlling all of your costs to make money all the time under that constraint. If yields change or component/material prices fluctuate the wrong way any predicted profit cou…

> It's also true that Apple is very well known for very hard negotiation… No successful company is over-paying suppliers.

> No successful company is over-paying suppliers.

If Apple did not over-pay their suppliers, the M1 would not have been manufactured on the 5nm node.

Re: iPhone maker Wistron quits, saying Apple didn't let it make a profit

#62

Post by geodel »

throwaway09223 wrote: post #45
CharlesW wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It's also true that Apple is very well known for very hard negotiation… No successful company is over-paying suppliers.

Successful companies overpay suppliers all the time - especially if they're growing very fast and are focused on scaling growth over cost efficiencies. Large companies who've already scaled up their products are more incentivized to focus on cost cutting.

Send this list of overpayers to Wistron. Please help them make some money.

Re: iPhone maker Wistron quits, saying Apple didn't let it make a profit

#63

Post by kitsunesoba »

genr8 wrote: post #57

a similar situation just happened between Nvidia and EVGA. NVidia makes the chips, And So, holds all the bargaining chips so to speak, and EVGA is just the board partner that has to find some way to make the price work. At some point it becomes impossible and they have to actually walk away in order to not be taken advantage of. We know this much, and I'm going to assume the situation was similar here with Apple and…

I think the Nvidia/EVGA situation might be a little different in that it looks like Nvidia is intentionally trying to squeeze out board partners like EVGA in favor of self-branded cards. The closer parallel is probably when Apple killed the Mac clone program by making it extremely difficult for clone makers to compete.

Re: iPhone maker Wistron quits, saying Apple didn't let it make a profit

#64

Post by buescher »

MuffinFlavored wrote: post #25
buescher wrote: post #21

If Wistron was having quality problems, as has been rumored about iPhone production in India [1], this could have been the sort of deal where both sides lost. [1] https://www.theapplepost.com/2023/02/26/apple-disappointed-w...

what portion of apple assembly for things like macbook/watch/iphone aren't 100% done by machine, and if they aren't 100% done by machine (which they aren't), it sounds extremely not easy to do by hand (especially at scale, for "low wages") what parts can't they automate?

Automation doesn't guarantee quality, and it is hard to do at a high quality level, at scale, also.

Re: iPhone maker Wistron quits, saying Apple didn't let it make a profit

#65

Post by jbverschoor »

karamanolev wrote: post #16
elcritch wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pretty sure Apple is partly guilty as well. I really doubt they didn’t know exactly how Wistron was bidding so low.

They might have suspected, but I doubt they formally knew. I would guess it was a type of "don't tell me, I don't want to know, plausible deniability and all".

They probably didn’t tell bc they wouldn’t get the deal.

Simple story. Just some more Apple bashing like always.

Re: iPhone maker Wistron quits, saying Apple didn't let it make a profit

#66

Post by thatguy0900 »

mbesto wrote: post #55
A4ET8a8uTh0 wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some context may be needed. Walmart is known in MBA circles for being one of the first companies to have used detailed data on products to negotiate new terms with suppliers ( usually to suppliers detriment ). Information asymmetry with main goal to increase a chance for an increased leverage is what it is all about.

Ok, so what do people expect the alternative route is? It's a known strategy, that works, and increases profit if implemented correctly.

The alternative route people would prefer is for people in charge of these companies to act ethically and not try to squeeze everyone around them for every cent of profit possible. Especially if you're already one of the richest companies to ever exist. That's not very realistic, though, since sociopathy is essentially taught in business schools now.

Re: iPhone maker Wistron quits, saying Apple didn't let it make a profit

#69

Post by southwesterly »

cush wrote: post #24

Apple is so huge that they treat their manufacturers like a freelance design contracts... "We'll let you build our devices. We can't pay you, but think how amazing it will look to have Apple in your portfolio!"

“Oh, by the way, sign this NDA so you can’t even talk about it.”

Re: iPhone maker Wistron quits, saying Apple didn't let it make a profit

#70

Post by phone8675309 »

thatguy0900 wrote: post #66
mbesto wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ok, so what do people expect the alternative route is? It's a known strategy, that works, and increases profit if implemented correctly.

The alternative route people would prefer is for people in charge of these companies to act ethically and not try to squeeze everyone around them for every cent of profit possible. Especially if you're already one of the richest companies to ever exist. That's not very realistic, though, since sociopathy is essentially taught in business schools now.

If you work full time at federal minimum wage then you qualify for food stamps and other government assistance.

Walmart took it a step further - they have information for their employees on how to do that efficiently, rather than paying a living wage.

Post reply on HN