“One More Thing”
Editor’s note: This article is from the WeChat public account “Bonban Finance” (ID: daxiongfan) author: Yao Yun.
I’m still doing it.
“The M1 chip is the best chip we have created so far. It greatly improves the operating speed of Mac computers, provides longer battery life, and enables Mac to run more software.” Cook confronts The lens introduced confidently.
In the early morning of November 11th, Apple held its third press conference in the fall with the theme “One More Thing”. This return conference quickly gained a high degree of attention from the market and the industry. However, what is different from usual is that it is not three new products that have caused heated discussion-Apple’s first self-developed Apple M1 chip, and the relationship with the old supplier Intel.
This means that Apple and Intel, which have been deeply cooperating for 15 years, are about to part ways. The outside world had already predicted this breakup.
From the list of suppliers announced by Apple in 2019, its supply chain involves at least 200 companies and more than 800 factories. These factories are distributed in hundreds of cities in 27 countries, and among these companies, To transnational management. With the interweaving of voice, cost control, product quality, production efficiency, and business efficiency, the complexity of Apple’s supply chain management can be imagined.
However, those who have the supply chain have the world. In the past, Nokia, in order to cut costs and control the component supply chain, self-developed and produced, and missed the inflection point of smartphones; later, Xiaomi Lei Jun personally managed the supply chain, and Xiaomi counterattacked.
Why did Apple get rid of Intel, a world-renowned manufacturer with 15 years of cooperation? What is the coordination and management of the supply chain? What exactly is the manipulation of its supply chain?
1 Intention to Peigong
If there is no lawsuit filed by Da Liguang against Yu Jingguang, the outside world’s understanding of Apple’s supply chain will only remain at the stage of pure and beautiful imagination.
On June 4, 2013, Largan, the supplier of Apple’s mobile phone lens, filed a patent lawsuit in the District Court of California. The defendant is Yujingguang, both a Taiwanese optical lens manufacturer and an Apple supplier. The accusation is that Yujingguang lured Apple to infringe Largan’s 5 US patents, and at the same time, it determined that 8 Yujingguang products infringed Largan’s patents.
Until 2016, the U.S. court ruling document gradually revealed how Apple managed the supply chain’s trade secrets. It was found from the documents that it was nominally suing her colleague Yu Jingguang, but in fact the sword wasapple.
In 2010, Yujingguang entered the Apple supply chain. At the same time, it signed an important supply agreement (MSDA, Master Development and Supply Agreement.) with Apple
The details of this agreement, abbreviated as MSDA, are the focus of litigation disputes.
According to Taiwanese media “Foreign News Biweekly”, in this agreement, Apple only tells Yujingguang the model of each lens, the highest acceptable price and the lowest quantity available. Neither did it say at what price Apple would purchase Yujingguang lenses, nor how many lenses or models it would buy.
However, in the agreement, Yujingguang does not supply directly to Apple, but signs a separate contract with the foundry. After the lens is shipped, the foundry will also pay for it, and then the foundry will sell the products to Apple through the supply chain system. .
Therefore, it was pointed out in the court’s judgment that although Largan proved that Yujingguang had reached a supply agreement with Apple’s headquarters, there was no actual price or quantity delivered in these agreements, and these products were not directly sold in the United States. The court found that the actual delivery, payment, and contracting were all carried out overseas and belonged to overseas transactions.
And these overseas transactions, even if Yujingguang infringes Largan’s US patent rights, the United States cannot control it.
On December 1, 2016, Yujingguang issued an announcement stating that it and Largan had reached a settlement in the 2013 patent lawsuit. The settlement of the case caused an uproar in the optoelectronics industry, and the industry speculated that it was because of the mediation of Apple that led to the settlement of Largan and Yujingguang.
Large Liguang not only sued Yu Jingguang.
In October 2013, it sued Advanced Optical, and in November of the same year, it sued Samsung Electronics. From Yujingguang, Advanced Optics to Samsung Electronics, Largan has launched a patent war with the intention of Peking.
Since Yujingguang entered Apple’s supply, it has separately supplied the front camera and rear camera of Apple’s mobile phone with Largan.
But Apple’s normal practice is that its parts will be purchased from at least two suppliers to obtain better prices and reduce dependence on a single supplier. In the face of a dominance, Apple often adopts a variety of methods to firmly occupy the power of control and bargaining power. Acquisition of joint ventures, support for novices, patent control, and staffing are all regular options.
After the settlement, the market and the media agreed that the lawsuit was a big victory.
External interpretation, Largan started