The news source said, Apple is looking to move some of its Apple Watch production away from China, with a report from Nikkei Asia claiming that suppliers Luxshare Precision and Foxconn have already started test production of the wearable in northern Vietnam ahead of a potential move to produce the device fully in the south-east Asian country in the near future, Tom Sykes reported on the theapplepost.com.
Citing three unnamed people with direct knowledge of the matter, Nikkei Asia report that Vietnam has now become Apple’s most important country for production outside China, with suppliers looking to begin MacBook production there, as well as open new production lines for the HomePod mini.
“AirPods, Apple Watch, HomePod and more . . . Apple has big plans in Vietnam, apart from iPhone manufacturing,” one of the people with direct knowledge of the situation said. “The components for MacBooks have become more modularised than in the past, which makes it easier to produce the laptops outside of China. But how to make it cost-competitive is another challenge.”
Apple’s MacBooks are set to be produced in Vietnam starting next year for the first time, the latest of several Apple products that will be shifted to the country. Apple has tapped its top supplier, Taiwan’s Foxconn, to start making the laptops in Vietnam as early as around May, sources said.
Apple has been producing AirPods in Vietnam since 2020, with the iPhone maker pushing suppliers over recent years to explore moving factories outside of China, with tensions between the U.S. a key driving force behind the move.