Apple has recently requested Foxconn to move a number of its own iPad and MacBook assembly over from China to Vietnam. This is an effort made by the company to minimize the inevitable impact that could come of the ongoing trade tensions that are happening between both the United States and China.
Apple iPad and MacBook production to move to Vietnam
The story was reported by Reuters and it stated that Foxconn is now building its assembly lines for both Apple's iPad tablet and its MacBook laptops at its plant located in Vietnam's northeastern Bac Giang Provinces. The plant is expected to come online as early as the first half of 2021.
The lines are said to take a fraction of its production from China but there were no specifications as to how much of its production would be shifted. It was then confirmed that the move was officially requested by Apple as the company tries to diversify its production following the current trade war.
Apple tries to diversify production
Apple has also been trying to add geographical diversity towards its supply chain for quite some time now. Apple suppliers are already starting to assemble the company's own AirPods and AirPods Pro over in Vietnam.
According to the story reported by 9to5mac, the company is also reportedly seeking to be able to expand its own iPhone production over in Vietnam, although a particular report over in August previously suggested that the company was allegedly holding off until its workers' conditions had improved at supplier Luxshare-ICT's facilities.
Apple production line: Foxconn, Compal Electronics, and Pegatron
The major Apple manufacturing contractors such as Pegatron, Compal Electronics, and Foxconn are all said to start expanding their production in Vietnam as the companies are seeking to reduce reliance on China and also diversify its supply chain in order to prevent concentration risks.
Vietnam is now emerging as a major assembly and manufacturing hub for a number of large technology companies including Samsung manufactures which already have as many as half of its own smartphones there as of the moment. This move has been the result of the heated trade relation between both the United States and China.
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US and China trade relations
Even before trade negotiations between the United States and China started to get complicated, when COVID-19 first happened, a lot of manufacturing and logistical complications came up. This is due to the majority of the world's manufacturing coming from China because of the cost of manufacturing being low compared to other places around the world.
The chairman of Foxconn Liu Young-way previously told investors in august that the Sinio-US trade war had resulted in splitting the world into two. He then stated that his firm aims to be able to provide two different sets of supply chains. The other iPad assemblers are most likely to do the same. Currently, getting products from China to the US is not yet that problematic but this might still change in the future.
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This article is owned by Tech Times
Written by Urian Buenconsejo
