Apple's factory is exhausted

Apple's MacBook Air M4. Photo: New York Times .

Apple is ramping up production of some key devices in India and Vietnam, Nikkei reported, in a move that could take advantage of a 90-day reprieve on tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump.

Specifically, Apple has supported suppliers to buy more equipment, increasing iPhone assembly capacity in India by several million units. The company plans to produce at least 50 million iPhones in India this year and export most of them to the US.

In fact, Apple had asked its Indian suppliers to increase production since the beginning of the year. However, the plan was hampered by the factory reaching its maximum capacity. Similarly, Apple told its suppliers that most of its MacBooks and iPads destined for the US market would need to be made in Vietnam.

Apple has requested that as many components and parts as possible be shipped from China to Southeast Asia and India to increase production for the US market.

According to Nikkei , Apple also asked suppliers to speed up the production of some components, such as printed circuit boards, from China to Thailand and other countries.

However, many components such as connectors, mechanical parts and metal casings are still least expensive to produce in China, making it nearly impossible to produce many parts in other countries.

“We were asked to ship as many components as possible to Southeast Asia and India by air...

“It seems like customers are clearing out their inventory to move out of China,” said a director at a company that supplies components to Apple, adding that the company will have to shoulder additional air freight costs.

iPad Air M3. Photo: The Verge .

Speaking to Nikkei , a manager at another supply company confirmed that Apple is “very serious” in evaluating multiple component manufacturing locations in Thailand. This person said that the process of diversifying the supply chain away from China is happening quickly.

However, China is said to have tightened customs procedures for months, causing delays in the shipment of machinery.

“It's not that we don't want to expand our production capacity, but the problem is still there... We are constantly having difficulty exporting devices out of China,” said the director of a company that assembles devices for Apple.

Similarly, many large technology companies such as Meta, HP and Dell have asked suppliers to accelerate production in Vietnam. The volume of goods in the second quarter increased compared to previous forecasts, serving the plan to import to the US before the 90-day tax deferral expires.

Last week, the Trump administration exempted many tech products like smartphones and laptops from tariffs, though they are still subject to a 20% tax if shipped from China.

Shortly after, US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said that along with semiconductors, electronic products could be subject to separate tariffs, expected to be announced in the near future. This caused the technology market to continue to fall into a state of uncertainty.

Source: https://znews.vn/apple-tan-dung-thoi-gian-hoan-thue-post1545868.html