Apple

I thought it might be fun to map the supply chain of the new Apple iPhone and, at some point, the supply chain of the Apple TV, hoping that this might help to demonstrate the complexity involved in manufacturing the Apple iPhone — a feature-rich product I wish I could have, if I could afford it (update: I’ve had several iPhones now). I conducted some research and found some interesting information on the suppliers of the Apple iPhone. My data comes from The Wall Street Journal, January 14, 2007; Supplier Code of Conduct, Apple Corporation; and, some speculative assertions from Ars Technica, Engadget, and New York Times. Note: Some or all of my data may be wrong. One fact I do know for sure is that the Apple iPhone is assembled, staged, and fulfilled from Apple’s Shenzhen, China facility.

Apple Supply Chain: High-Level Map

From a high-level, we speculate that the following are the material suppliers of the Apple iPhone:

Samsung: The Singapore facility manufactures CPU and Video processing chips.
Infineon: The Singapore facility manufactures Baseband Communications hardware.
Primax Electronics: The Taiwan facility manufactures Digital Camera Modules.
Foxconn International: The Taiwan facility manufactures internal circuitry.

Entery Industrial: The Taiwan facility manufactures connectors.
Cambridge Silicon: The Taiwan facility manufactures bluetooth chipsets.
Umicron Technology: The Taiwan facility manufactures printed circuit boards.
Catcher Technology: The Taiwan facility manufactures stainless metal casings.
Broadcomm: The U.S. based facility builds touch screen controllers.
Marvell: The U.S. based facility builds 802.11 specific parts.
The Apple Shenzhen, China facility assembles the hardware, holds inventory, and handles the pick, pack, and ship steps of the fulfillment process.
If I am correct in any of my research and assertions above, it’s easy to see that if there is any disruption in material flow of any supplier into the Apple