BEIJING, December 20 (TMTPOST)— Apple Inc. is ramping up efforts to shift some production out of China, its major manufacturing base.

Source: Visual China

Apple plans to for the first time make its MacBook computers Vietnam in 2023, and has tapped Foxconn, the world’s largest electronics manufacturer as well as iPhone’s largest original equipment manufacturer (OEM), for the production in the Southeastern Asian country as early as around May, Nikkei Asia cited sources familiar with the matter on Tuesday. Foxconn is reported to produce MacBook at a new facility located in the northern Vietnamese province of Bac Giang. With an aim to make eight million units annually, the facility is reportedly developed by Foxconn’s unit Fukang Technology, which has obtained license to produce laptops and tablets from the Vietnamese government in January 2021.

While Apple didn’t comment on the report, more and more news said the U.S. tech giant is expediting to reduce dependence on China and diversify its supply chain.

Apple announced in April to start making iPhone 13 in India, which seems as one of signs to highlight increasing importance of countries like India, Vietnam and Mexico for suppliers who try to improve diversification of production away from China.

Apple was said to ask suppliers to first produce Apple Watches, HomePods and MacBooks in Vietnam in August. A month later, Apple confirmed it was assembling iPhone 14 in India, less than three weeks from its release of the new iPhone series. The confirmation suggests India will first make the latest flagship iPhone.  

In early October, Apple was reported to talk with suppliers to move some AirPods and Beats production to India and begin production as early as next year, which will allow India for the first time to become a region for its headphone supply.

Earlier this month, sources from The Wall Street Journal said Apple has accelerated the pivot from China as it was telling suppliers to plan more actively for assembling its products in other Asian countries, particularly India and Vietnam.

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