Apple Reportedly Moving Some iPad Production From China to Vietnam

[MacRumors]

Apple is shifting some iPad production from China to Vietnam for the first time, Nikkei Asia reports.

Currently, the overwhelming majority of the iPad's supply chain is concentrated in China. Apple has been reported to be interested in moving at least some iPad production to Vietnam since January 2021, but supply chain issues over the past year are said to have delayed the move. Now, the supply chain disruption caused by lockdown measures in China is reported to have hastened Apple's desire to move some production out of the country.

China's BYD, one of the leading iPad assemblers, has purportedly assisted Apple in setting up new iPad production lines in Vietnam. The iPad will become Apple's second major product line to be manufactured in Vietnam, following AirPods.

Apple has also reportedly asked many of its suppliers to build up component inventories for all of its devices to guard against any future shortages. The company is said to have moved quickly to secure supplies of chips, particularly with regards to power management, for upcoming iPhone models. Apple is even believed to have shouldered some logistical and transportation costs for suppliers to ensure that materials needed for production arrive on time.

According to the report, Apple hopes that its suppliers are able to manufacture enough additional components in the coming months to fully offset the setbacks in China, but suppliers are said to be hesitant about slowing demand that could leave them with large stocks of unused components. Nevertheless, analysts believe that the impact of supply chain disruption on major clients like Apple remains "controllable," with automakers and smaller Android and PC brands being hit harder.

Article Link: Apple Reportedly Moving Some iPad Production From China to Vietnam

 

[vagos]

Good. We want to see more production moved out of china. Minimizes risks in the long run.

 

[Freeangel1]

can they move the Macs there too?

seems like we need Macs more than iPads.

 

[Leon Ze Professional]

Continue the exodus, please Apple!
Especially Mac production.

 

[adamw]

About time. Supply chain needs to be reinforced to prevent shortages.

 

[mectojic]

This is a good move.

 

[EugW]

India needs to get its act together. It seems companies are diversifying to Vietnam more than to India, despite India being so huge.

 

[Six0Four]

hope vietnam has better quality control. maybe this will help get the dust out of the camera lens in 50% of ipads. next do iphones.

 

[ddtmm]

Too bad they don’t move production to the US. Still too expensive but foreign dependance has been the overall problem.

 

[EugW]

hope vietnam has better quality control. maybe this will help get the dust out of the camera lens in 50% of ipads. next do iphones.

Quality control is up to Apple. Chinese manufacturing partners can provide them any level of quality control. If Apple wants top of the class quality control, they can get it, as long as they pay for it.

Too bad they don’t move production to the US. Still too expensive but foreign dependance has been the overall problem.

If they were to move some production outside of Asia, I personally would rather see production in Canada or parts of Europe. I don't live in the US (and neither does most of the world).

 

[Razorpit]

India needs to get its act together. It seems companies are diversifying to Vietnam more than to India, despite India being so huge.

Agreed but as you said India needs to get its act together. You thought China was bad with politics and corruption. Research India. 🤯

Quality control is up to Apple. Chinese manufacturing partners can provide them any level of quality control. If Apple wants top of the class quality control, they can get it, as long as they pay for it.


If they were to move some production outside of Asia, I personally would rather see production in Canada or parts of Europe. I don't live in the US (and neither does most of the world).

Who cares where you live? It would be nice to se a US company build more products in the US. There is no way Apple is going to move to Canada before coming back to the States. They might move some production to cheaper European countries, but with the recent attempted bullying by the EU and the instability of Eastern Europe, I doubt it.

 

[TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️]

I really wish it was, "All iPad production from China to Vietnam 🇻🇳".

Apple: Please let it be the production of iPhone 14 next.

 

[WWPD]

Good on Apple, diversification of the supply is always a good idea.

 

[Orange Bat]

What happened to South America? It was touted as being the next big region to do business but it never materialized. It was rumored that Apple was preparing to move more manufacturing there but it never happened. I know a few of the countries turned into political nightmares, but not all of them.

 

[JustSomebody12]

India needs to get its act together. It seems companies are diversifying to Vietnam more than to India, despite India being so huge.

Size rarely is the most important thing.

Otherwise Russia would be the pinnacle of world civilization.

Also Apple met a few obstacles in moving the production to India.

 

[EugW]

Who cares where you live? It would be nice to se a US company build more products in the US. There is no way Apple is going to move to Canada before coming back to the States. They might move some production to cheaper European countries, but with the recent attempted bullying by the EU and the instability of Eastern Europe, I doubt it.

US isn't the most efficient even in North America. For example, in the auto industry some research has indicated that Canada is the most efficient (as in man-hours to car completion), US is second, and Mexico is third. On the flip side, Mexico is the cheapest. IOW, the US is neither the most efficient at assembly nor the most cost effective.

Agreed but as you said India needs to get its act together. You thought China was bad with politics and corruption. Research India. ?

Yes I already know that. That's why I said India needs to get its act together.

BTW, while China's politics royally suck for individual Chinese citizens, it is arguably beneficial for foreign (and domestic) tech companies.

What happened to South America? It was touted as being the next big region to do business but it never materialized. It was rumored that Apple was preparing to move more manufacturing there but it never happened. I know a few of the countries turned into political nightmares, but not all of them.

Yeah, it's strange. Anyhow I guess they need to get their acts together too. And then there's Africa. WTF, Africa?

Size rarely is the most important thing.

Otherwise Russia would be the pinnacle of world civilization.

? I'm talking population of course.

Vietnam is about 100 million, Russia is about 145 million... and everyone hates the country right now. India is 1400 million, with a very decent source of educated workers. However, as everyone knows, their infrastructure is terrible, and their governments, at multiple levels, are both corrupt and ineffective.

 

[JustSomebody12]

US isn't the most efficient even in North America. For example, in the auto-industry some research has indicated that Canada is the most efficient (as in man-hours to car completion), US is second, and Mexico is third. On the flip side, Mexico is the cheapest. IOW, the US is neither the most efficient at assembly nor the most cost effective.


Yes I already know that. That's why I said India needs to get its act together.

BTW, while China's politics royally suck for Chinese citizens, it is arguably beneficial for foreign (and domestic) tech companies.


Yeah, it's strange. Anyhow I guess they need to get their acts together too. And then there's Africa. WTF, Africa?

Africa and, in minor measure, South America suffer of low school education and heavy political instability.

Also production and transportation infrastructures are too sparse.

 

[EugW]

Africa and, in minor measure, South America suffer of low school education and heavy political instability.

Also production and transportation infrastructures are too sparse.

It's amazing just how much money flows through these governments just to end up in some individuals' pockets instead of in infrastructure, etc.

 

[Canezmd]

If they can make phones in India and iPads in Vietnam... they can make them in the U.S.

They don't have to make the entire worlds supply here, but the number of phones/pads/Macs sold in the U.S. should be made in the U.S.

Revenue from U.S. sales should be paid to U.S. workers.

 

[Jim Lahey]

Setting aside the semiconductor situation in Taiwan, Apple knows very well that world events may soon see the west hitting China with economic sanctions that will cripple the entire civilised world and take Apple out at the knees in the process. Not surprised they’re trying to move some manufacturing capacity elsewhere. They aren’t doing it for humanitarian reasons, that’s for sure. Tim sees the writing on the wall.

 

[EugW]

If they can make phones in India and iPads in Vietnam... they can make them in the U.S.

They don't have to make the entire worlds supply here, but the number of phones/pads/Macs sold in the U.S. should be made in the U.S.

Revenue from U.S. sales should be paid to U.S. workers.

Sure, if you're willing to pay 50% more or whatever for your iPhones, etc., and willing to accept longer build times. Remember, the parts supply chain is pretty much all in Asia.

 

[T Coma]

If they were to move some production outside of Asia, I personally would rather see production in Canada or parts of Europe. I don't live in the US (and neither does most of the world).

Most of the world doesn’t live in China, or Canada, or parts of Europe either. So that’s not particularly relevant.

Most of Apple, however, was founded, designed, incorporated, headquartered, and managed in the US, which is also by far its biggest market. These would be more compelling reasons for a manufacturing base than the residency status of most of the world (including this one internet rando).

 

[Isengardtom]

If they can make phones in India and iPads in Vietnam... they can make them in the U.S.

They don't have to make the entire worlds supply here, but the number of phones/pads/Macs sold in the U.S. should be made in the U.S.

Revenue from U.S. sales should be paid to U.S. workers.

Sounds great in theory but would mean even higher prices unless apple is willing to cut into its margins (spoiler: they won’t)

So unless you’re willing to pay more for your apple products this is never going to happen

 

[bviktor]

Gotta love how everyone is worried about supply, not all the cr@p China is doing, including environmental and worker health issues.

 

[IIGS User]

Everyone knows Tim is the Grand Master of logistics. So, if Apple is moving more and more production from china, I believe that signals a boarder shift in the market. Xi Jinping's zero Covid policy is doing serious short term damage to the Chinese economy as well.

As the Chinese economy continues to evolve and mature, the pool of low cost to high quality ratio labor continues to shrink. This eventually happens in all economies. Who wants their children to be making iPhones when they can be doctors or attorneys? As a generation of people who raised families and improved their standard of living in manufacturing jobs acquires the means to give their children a better life, that becomes their focus. This is just human nature. It closely mirrors changes in society in post war Europe, Japan, and North America. Japan used to be the "go to" for inexpensive quality manufacturing labor. Now Japan is simply "high quality" as the low cost labor pool has shrunk. This is what's happening in China. All be it on a larger scale.

So the move to Vietnam and India, and other Asian locations for manufacturing makes perfect sense. The logistical infrastructure is all ready there, the labor base is highly literate and intelligent. All be it, impoverished. The perfect place for Apple to continue to make a fortune.

The geopolitical situation is not favoring China as well. The pandemic has sped this process up considerably. China's politics as it relates to Russia and Taiwan are doing them no favors. Reunification with mainland China is going to happen eventually. This is why you see TSMC planning facilities in Arizona and Japan, with the latest 5nm technology going to Arizona. All be it, 3nm will be the leading edge by then, but up until recently, US facilities were limited to producing "older" technologies.

China will continue to be a dominant manufacturing and export economy in the foreseeable future, but has begun to peak in some aspects.

The future lies elsewhere. One could say China is the "present"....