Preparations for production of this year's new iPhone devices have started, but component suppliers are bracing for weaker shipments to Apple compared to last year. But one of Apple's major competitors, Huawei, has turned upbeat about its shipments for 2019 now that the US and China have agreed to restart trade talks. But Huawei reportedly has seen changes in its ecosystem, with Flex stopping making phones for the Chinese vendor.
Apple supply chain cautious about orders for new iPhones: Judging from the order visibility from Apple for the third quarter of 2019, the build-up of components for the production of new iPhone devices to be released later in the year could hardly exceed the 80 million units seen in the same period a year ago, according sources from Taiwan's handset supply chain.
IC backend firms expanding capacities on strong demand from Huawei: Taiwan IC backend service firms are moving to carry out capacity expansions to meet increased shipment demand from Huawei and its chipmaking arm HiSilicon, which, coupled with growing demand for packaging crypto mining ASICs and niche DRAMs, is expected to significantly drive up their revenues for the second half of 2019, according to industry sources.
Flex halts handset production for Huawei, says Chinese media: EMS provider Flex reportedly has stopped assembling Huawei's smartphones in China, with the client shifting contract production orders to BYD Electronics International and Foxconn Electronics, according to Chinese media reports.