Chinese companies that assemble products for US tech giant Apple are considering making the Apple Watch and MacBook in Vietnam for the first time, Nikkei Asia reported on Tuesday.
Luxshare Precision Industry and Taiwan’s Foxconn, which assembles iPhones, have started test production of Apple Watch and MacBook in northern Vietnam, the report said.
Apple has been shifting some iPhone production from China to other markets such as India, where it started manufacturing iPhone 13 this year, and is also planning to assemble iPad tablets.
India, the world’s second-biggest smartphone market, along with countries such as Mexico and Vietnam are becoming increasingly important to contract manufacturers supplying American brands, as they try to diversify production away from China.
Apple, Foxconn and Luxshare Precision did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Last week, Taiwanese contract manufacturer Foxconn gave a cautious outlook for the current quarter after posting results that exceeded expectations, citing slowing smartphone demand after a pandemic-fuelled boom.
Like other global manufacturers, Foxconn – formally called Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd – has dealt with a severe shortage of chips that hurt production, as bottlenecks from the pandemic lingered and the Ukraine war further strained logistical channels.
- Reuters with additional editing by Jim Pollard
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