Apple to begin producing MacBooks in Vietnam by the mid-2023: Nikkei Asia

According to Nikkei Asia, Apple has contracted with Taiwan's Foxconn to begin producing MacBooks in the country of Southeast Asia in May 2022.

For all of its key product lines, Apple has been seeking to build production facilities outside of China. Still, the final one, the MacBook, it has taken longer due to the intricate supply chain required for producing laptop computers.

Almost two years ago, the company has planned to move some MacBook manufacturers to Vietnam, where a trial production line has already been set up. 

Apple produces between 20 and 24 million MacBooks annually, with factories situated in the Chinese cities of Chengdu, the Sichuan area, and Shanghai.

For China, the loss of control over MacBook manufacturing represents a general deterioration in its role as the world's factory. 

Since former U.S. President Donald Trump began a trade war against China, major electronics manufacturers like Apple, HP, Dell, Google, and Meta have all announced at least some preparations to relocate production and sourcing away from the nation.

The majority of data center servers manufactured for companies with U.S. customers, including Google, Meta, Amazon, and Microsoft, are now produced in Taiwan, Mexico, or Thailand.

Apple has regarded China as its most significant assembly base for many years, but in 2022, that successful formula ended. 

Due to a lengthy COVID lockout in the spring, important MacBook and iPhone production facilities in Shanghai experienced significant interruptions. 

Apple issued a warning in November on delays in the premium iPhone 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max's Christmas deliveries, citing labor shortages caused by the epidemic at its most significant production facility in Zhengzhou, Henan province.

AirPods, which began commercial manufacturing in Vietnam in 2020, served as the catalyst for Apple's expansion into that country. Nikkei Asia was the first to reveal that the business moved some of the production of Apple Watches and iPads there this year. 

Source: Nikkei Asia