A Apple has been looking for ways to decentralize the production of its equipment in Asia and reduce dependence on China in this area. The owner of the iPhone may be close to taking another step in that direction, to Thailand.
Reuters quotes the Nikkei agency as saying that the North American manufacturer is in discussions with various suppliers in Thailand, with the aim of setting conditions for the production of its MackBooks in the country. The information will have been confirmed to Nikkei by three suppliers who were present at the negotiations.
The suppliers involved in these negotiations will already have industrial complexes in Thailand, serving other customers and may now Assembling Macbooks in the country and manufacturing components and modules for Apple laptops. The same source indicates that Apple has been producing the Apple Watch in factories in Thailand for more than a year.
The news comes at a time when tensions between China and the United States are running high and at a time when the The US has used the resources at its disposal to try to prevent US companies from manufacturing or exporting advanced technology to China.. One of the ways used to do this was to make access to state subsidies conditional on the acceptance of these conditions.
On the other hand, the companies that rely heavily on China to manufacture their equipment, such as Apple with the iPhone, had a strong impact from the measures to combat Covid-19imposed by the country for most of last year, forcing new restrictions and other restrictions on the movement of goods and people.
To escape the political influence of activities in China, the Apple has been looking to decentralize production in Asia. One of the strong bets was India, through the hand of the same suppliers that work with the company in China, such as Foxconn, which made the same move and opened factories in other countries in the region. A news story published by Bloomberg this week indicated that the Apple tripled iPhone production in India in the last financial year.
Remember that the Apple has been working with factories in India since 2017, where he started by manufacturing components or assembling older models or with fewer innovations. Last year, it strengthened its commitment to the country, where it began manufacturing the iPhone 14.
In September, JP Morgan estimated that 25% of all Apple electronics, including Macs, iPads, Apple Watch and AirPods, to be manufactured in India by 2025. At the time, the investment house calculated that only 5% of the equipment sold by Apple was not manufactured in China.