Apple explores moving 15-30% of production capacity from China - Nikkei

Inventec

19/06/2019 10:10

June 19 (Reuters) - Apple Inc  AAPL.O  has asked its major
suppliers to assess the cost implications of moving 15% to 30%
of their production capacity from China to Southeast Asia as it
prepares for a restructuring of its supply chain, according to a
Nikkei Asian Review report on Wednesday.
    Apple's request was a result of the extended Sino-U.S. trade
dispute, but a trade resolution will not lead to a change in the
company's decision, Nikkei said https://s.nikkei.com/31zCGhw,
citing multiple sources.
    The iPhone maker has decided that the risks of depending
heavily on manufacturing in China are too great and even rising,
it said.
    Key iPhone assemblers Foxconn  2317.TW , Pegatron Corp
 4938.TW , Wistron Corp  3231.TW , major MacBook maker Quanta
Computer Inc  2382.TW , iPad maker Compal Electronics Inc
 2324.TW , and AirPods makers Inventec Corp  2356.TW ,
Luxshare-ICT and Goertek have been asked to evaluate options
outside of China, Nikkei reported.
    The countries being considered include Mexico, India,
Vietnam, Indonesia and Malaysia. India and Vietnam are among the
favorites for smartphones, Nikkei said, citing sources who did
not want to be identified as the discussions are private.
    Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment
on the report.

 (Reporting by Sathvik N in Bengaluru; editing by Gopakumar
Warrier)
 ((Sathvik.N@thomsonreuters.com; +1-646-223-8780, outside
N.America, +91-80-6749-2783; Reuters Messaging: Reuters
Messaging: Sathvik.N.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))