A new Supply Chain report claims that Apple MacBooks will be made in Vietnam and Thailand as early as this year
In a new supply chain rumor today we learn that Apple is continuing to expand its manufacturing footprint outside of China, with the latest development being a possible shift to making MacBooks in Thailand.
Sources from the three suppliers directly involved in the negotiations with Apple told Nikkei Asia that the companies involved in these negotiations already have OEM factories in Thailand for other customers, and are discussing the possibility of assembling and producing MacBooks. components and modules.
Apple and its key suppliers have been moving production out of China in an attempt to shield their business from a potential hit from the growing U.S.-China trade friction.
Sources told Nikkei Asia that Apple has also mass-produced Apple Watches in Thailand for more than a year, further highlighting the increasingly important status of Thailand and even Southeast Asia as an alternative to production bases outside China.
“Nikkei Asia” had previously reported that Apple planned to start mass production of MacBook in Vietnam in the first half of this year.
A senior executive at one of the suppliers said, “Ideally, Apple would ask us to follow in the footsteps of other Apple suppliers and set up factories for MacBooks in Vietnam, but we offered them another option, Thailand. “MacBook assembly will start from Vietnam at first, and we can also support components from our Thailand factory…Logistics and customs clearance only take two to three days.”
A senior executive at another supplier said his company was building a new factory for Apple in Thailand, which will be completed this year for MacBooks and other products.
A senior executive at the third supplier said the company has set up a trial production line for MacBooks in Thailand and is looking for land in Vietnam as a backup plan.
The disruption of MacBooks from Quanta in Shanghai over China’s strict COVID lockdowns likely set this plan into motion.
