A new report from Nikkei Asia claims that the company has started talks with its suppliers in Vietnam to produce Apple Watch and MacBook in the Southeast Asian country. 

It is widely known that Apple is making moves to expand its production and supply chain beyond China. Earlier this month, Apple asked Foxconn, one of its major iPhone suppliers, to set up a new production line in Chennai, India. The company is even looking to ship an India-made iPhone 14 model at launch. And now, a new report claims that Apple suppliers have started test production of the Apple Watch in Vietnam.

Apple already manufactures AirPods and certain iPad models in Vietnam. But now, the company is looking to produce even more Apple products in the country, including HomePod, MacBook, and Apple Watch. In addition to revealing the information about Apple setting up a production line in Vietnam, the report also notes that the trial production of MacBooks in the country has been very slow due to pandemic-related problems.

So far, Apple has largely been dependent on China for the production of most of its products. It is one of the reasons why the iPhone 12’s launch was delayed — as factories were closed due to lockdowns in China. But now, it appears that the company is putting more effort into expanding its production and supply chain beyond China as it looks to avert the supply chain issues it has faced in the past few years due to the global health crisis and geopolitical conflict.

Source: Nikkei Asia| Via: Reuters