Rumors that Apple is trying to get as far away from China as possible seem to be well-founded. The US manufacturer is currently working with Foxconn to establish new assembly lines for its products from the iPad and MacBook families outside China. One of the countries targeted is even Vietnam, where Apple is already assembling with other partners accessories such as AirPods and Apple Watch.
Apple and Foxconn choose Vietnam to move away from China
According to Reuters, the new Foxconn assembly lines for tablets and laptops could be opened in the first half of 2021, with the factory to be built in the Bac Giang region in the northeast of the country. Of course, not all iPad and MacBook models would be moved to Vietnam, but it is another step by which Apple gets rid of its current dependence on the factories of its Chinese partners.
There is already a Foxconn subsidiary in Vietnam called FuKang Technology Co Ltd, recently set up with a capital of 270 million dollars, under which the new Foxconn factory for Apple will be developed. And the new production lines will not necessarily replace the existing lines. Part of Foxconn’s production capacity will be moved from China to Vietnam. It is unclear at this time how large the impact will be.
In fact, Foxconn is also trying to diversify its portfolio of factories, and will open a factory for Apple even in the US. However, the decision to reduce the business that Apple and Foxconn have in China are caused primarily by the deteriorating economic relations between the US and Chinese authorities.
Just as the US has been able to block certain Chinese companies from American technologies, so can China block US companies from producing devices on its territory.
