Apple reportedly hiring engineers in Asia for faster and more frequent product launches

A new report claims that Apple is on a hiring spree in Asia. The company has hired hundreds of top level engineers and supply chain managers over the last couple of years in China and Taiwan. 

Interestingly, the Cupertino based company is also looking to hire employees from its rival companies like HTC. Apple is also believed to have offered engineers from Quanta Computers and Inventec who happen to be the suppliers for HTC.

People familiar with the matter said the Cupertino, Calif., company is hiring engineers from rival smartphone maker HTC Corp. and other Taiwanese tech firms to build up teams in Shanghai and Taipei.

The hiring push reflects Apple’s need for more engineers to work with Asian suppliers on developing components for coming iPhones and iPads as it plans for faster and more frequent product launches. Apple is also ramping up its number of supply-chain managers in the wake of criticism over factory conditions at some of its suppliers.

The company is reportedly using the social media to pick potential candidates through sites like LinkedIn. One of Apple’s job offer mails read the following – “Apple is building an engineering team in Taipei to drive new iPhone product development”. This report however clarifies that Apple is only looking for the production team in Asia while core development will still happen in Cupertino.

Apple is looking to set up various teams in Taipei to streamline production and get the essential components from the suppliers at a quicker rate. This is quite crucial as the company plans to launch two new flagship iPhones every year and two iPads. Apple is also looking to hire a broad range of engineers in China with job postings including electrical engineers, software quality assurance engineers as well as hardware development engineers whose job includes obtaining touch screens and camera modules from suppliers. The report however doesn’t shed light on how setting up engineering teams across Asia will affect Apple’s manufacturing partners.

Apple has faced significant ire from the authorities and public in the U.S. for handing over most of its manufacturing to Chinese suppliers. But the company has countered that by starting production of its recent Mac Pro computers in its Texas manufacturing unit. However, the production of the upcoming iPads and iPhones will most likely take place mostly in China as it is the most affordable option available for Apple.