Industrial espionage is a common practice between different high-tech brands. Many manufacturers are inspired by Apple's way of working and their products. We can for example cite the case of the Chinese Xiaomi, which does not hide it.
Another better-known Chinese brand,Huawei, however trieddifferent methods for extracting information from Apple suppliersetcopy their products. This is what a new report from The Information newspaper reveals.
The Information details a first attempt to extort information about the Apple Watch from Apple suppliers. Specifically, Huawei engineers went to an Apple supplier and triedto obtain the technical characteristics of the Apple Watch heart sensorpromising big orders for the supplier.
Huawei representatives tried another method toknow Apple's cost structure. To do this, they told the supplier that their design was similar to that of Apple, without sharing any plans. They then asked Apple's supplierto estimate an approximate cost of a component.
In another example, a Huawei engineer sent a photo of a material to Apple's supplier, asking them to “suggest a design they are familiar with“. The supplier obviously refused to cooperate.
The Information mentions that Huawei could havecopied the hinge design of the MacBook Pro 2016. According to the newspaper, Huawei employees met with Apple suppliers and showed a design that wasalmost identical (according to the suppliers' opinion) to that of Apple. This led to a refusal by Apple's suppliers to manufacture this product for Huawei.
The newspaper report also discusses another technique used by Huawei and other companies. Namely, bribing workers in Apple's contract factories to draw what the components used in Apple's products look like.
Finally, we can mention the story of a former Apple employee who applied for a position at Huawei. Except that during the job interview, he was questionedonly on Apple's roadmapand not about him or his skills.
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By : Keleops AG
Deputy editor-in-chief, also known under the pseudonym Teza. Former video games journalist, who has been immersed in technology and Apple products since his very first iPhone 3GS in 2009. He has since worked for several American tech sites and now for iPhon.fr. Incidentally YouTuber and Apple product specialist on the MobileAddict channel. To contact me: maxime[a]iphon.fr
