Apple Has Relied More on China-Based Engineers During Pandemic

The Wall Street Journal reported that Apple engineers in China have taken on greater responsibilities during the COVID-19 Pandemic as travel restrictions and lockdowns have prevented Apple from sending as many U.S. engineers to the country as it normally would.

The report claims that Apple has given its China-based engineers more authority to resolve problems with less input from U.S. employees.

For instance, instead of sending product- and assembly-related information from China to Cupertino for a decision, engineers in China would also include their analysis. And China-based engineers who in the past generally would have reported problems to Cupertino would instead send proposals for resolving the problem, the people said.

According to the report, Apple has been using video calling to communicate with Chinese employees in order to keep up with its annual product cycles.

In the last few weeks, China has imposed strict restrictions and/or lock downs in several cities. Last month, Apple warned that its June quarter revenue would be impacted by a number of factors, including supply constraints caused by COVID-related disruptions and industrywide Silicon shortages. The constraints will result in a $4 billion to $8 billion impact on revenue.

The disruptions have resulted in lengthy shipping estimates for several Apple products, such as the MacBook Pro, iPad Pro, and more.

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