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Apple is increasing efforts to hire engineers and other supply chain related employees in China and Taiwan. The Wall Street Journal reported Monday morning that employees are being poached from other tech firms such as HTC in an effort to meet increasingly short product cycle expectations and a wider range of product offerings. There are reportedly over 600 people employed by Apple in China, which is a key market for growth in the tech company’s future.
The news of new hirings is both welcome and perhaps over due, especially given recent delays in production and development. OS X and iOS have both felt delays due to quick turnarounds and overloaded teams. It makes a lot of sense that Apple would move as many operations as possible to the region where manufacturing products resides and where there is a fast growing market.
While it is unlikely that we’ll experience a change in day to day offerings from Apple, there is hope that as the cycle shrinks that we’ll have fewer bumps in the road and more reliable expectations. Here’s an explanation from WJS:
“The company is juggling more projects than ever against the industry’s shortening product cycle. Low-cost rival Android devices are eroding Apple’s smartphone market share, and the company is trying to fight back with more devices. Apple’s global smartphone market share fell to 17.9{813a954d5e225a1509f22204ece89c855080ce25555f20805f61bed63cbfde3b} in the fourth quarter from 20.9{813a954d5e225a1509f22204ece89c855080ce25555f20805f61bed63cbfde3b} a year earlier, according to market-research firm IDC.”
We saw the introduction of multiple iPhones at a single release and there are currently multiple iPad in production. If Apple wants to succeed in creating a diverse product offering then they are going to need a constantly growing team. According to WSJ there are almost 10,000 more employees at Apple than at the same time last year. Certainly that is a sign of things to come.
» Related posts:
Apple Crushes it in China – iPad Leads Tablet Race with 64{813a954d5e225a1509f22204ece89c855080ce25555f20805f61bed63cbfde3b} of the Market Share
Apple’s CEO Tim Cook in China Ahead of ‘Watershed’ Event
Apple Looks to China for Growth – Invites Media to Special iPhone Event on September 11
