Apple goes on a hiring spree in Asia to speed up development

Apple has been hiring “hundreds” of new engineers and supply chain managers in China and Taiwan, according to sources for the Wall Street Journal. In particular the company is said to be building up teams in Shanghai and Taipei to accelerate product development and ship a wider range of devices. The supply managers may be at least partly meant to cope with allegations of labor and safety abuses at supplier factories.

Apple Inc. AAPL -0.43% is hiring hundreds of new engineers and supply-chain managers in China and Taiwan as it attempts to speed up product development and launch a wider range of devices. People familiar with the matter said the Cupertino, Calif., company is hiring engineers from rival smartphone maker HTC Corp. 2498.TW +0.37% 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.