Source: Apple
What you need to know
- A key Apple supplier has been 'blacklisted' by the U.S. Government.
- O-Film Group was one of 11 companies added to the list.
- The U.S. Commerce Department added the firm over alleged human rights abuses involving China's Uighur Muslim population.
A key Apple supplier has been blacklisted by the U.S. Commerce Department over alleged human rights abuses involving Uighur Muslims in China.
As Nikkei Asian Review reports:
Washington has blacklisted a key Apple supplier as part of its latest crackdown on Chinese tech companies, a move that is expected to shake up consumer electronics supply chains and hasten the ongoing decoupling of the world's two largest economies.
Camera and touch module supplier O-Film Group was one of 11 Chinese companies added to the U.S. Commerce Department's Entity List on Monday over alleged human rights abuses involving China's Uighur Muslim minority. The Shenzhen-listed O-Film is a rising star in the consumer electronics and automobile supply chains, and supplies a wide range of American companies, including Microsoft, HP, Dell, General Motors and Amazon, as well as Apple. It also counts Samsung Electronics, Huawei Technologies, Oppo and Sony as clients.
As noted the firm supplies not only Apple but Microsoft, Dell, HP, Huawei, Samsung, and Sony.
According to the report, O-Film subsidiary Nanchang was named on the list "in connection with the forced labor of Uighurs and other Muslim minority groups in western China." Companies on the list must apply for special licenses to access U.S. technologies. Two other electronic supply chain companies, Tanyuan Technology, and KTK Group were added to the list.
The report says the move could "significantly impact multinational and U.S. companies' choice of suppliers', perhaps even changing the supply chain landscape long term. O-Film supplies camera and touch components for Apple's iPhone and iPad and is described in the report as a "formidable competitor" to leading suppliers like Foxconn. Tim Cook visited an O-Film factory in December of 2017, praising the company's expertise and culture and reportedly stating Apple would "forge a close collaboration with O-Film in the future."
Apple analyst Jeff Pu stated:
"O-Film has become a crucial camera module supplier for Apple over the years. O-Film could tell Apple, its major customer, that its production lines do not involve forced labor. But the addition to the U.S. trade blacklist could still impact its future engagement with U.S. clients such as Apple and its share of orders in the future."
You can read the full report here.

Nintendo recap: Sega's Sonic plans and Pokémon fan pays tribute to OG art
Three additional games found their way onto Nintendo Switch Online this week. Plus, we're in the final stretch before the 3DS and Wii U eShops no longer accept purchases of any kind. There's even more Nintendo news, so let's dive in.

Review: Eliminate Wi-Fi dead zones on all your Apple devices at once
WiFi dead zones and spotty internet signal at home can be wildly frustrating. With the rockspace AX1800 Router and Extender you can improve internet reliability overall and eliminate WiFi dead zones for your Apple devices.

Review: Secretlab's TITAN Evo 2022 is probably the best gaming chair ever
Secretlab's TITAN Evo is its 2022 offering. It's an awesome upgrade on its 2020 model and the perfect gaming chair for any gamer.

These accessories will go great with your Apple AirTags
Apple's AirTag doesn't have any hooks or adhesive for attaching to your precious items. Luckily there are plenty of accessories for that purpose, both from Apple and third parties.