Despite the hope that US-China tensions will ease under President Joe Biden, Apple has not slowed down its supply chain diversification process out of China. According to sources of Nikkei Asia Review, the giant tech company is mobilizing suppliers to expand the production of various products in Vietnam.
In Vietnam, the new categories for which Apply has requested their suppliers to increase production are audio-related devices such as AirPods lineups and HomePod mini. Both Apple’s key AirPods assemblers Goertek and LuxShare ICT are ramping up their capacity in North Vietnam to solve supply constraints for the popular devices which were sold at around 90 million units a year.
Other categories whose production is being shifted to Vietnam include iPads and Macbook, under the responsibility of Apple’s largest partner – Foxconn Technology Group. Their subsidiaries in Vietnam were granted a new USD 270 million investment license at the end of 2020. At the request of Apple to diversify their supply chain, the group is said to have plans to increase their investment by USD 700 million in their current Vietnamese factories and build a new USD 1.3 billion factory in the Thanh Hoa province.
(Sources: Nikkei Asia Review, Vietnam Investment Review)