Apple mulling move to Malaysia for iPhone production
With the US-China trade wars ongoing, Apple doesn’t want to be caught in the middle of all that. The Cupertino-based trillion dollar company is reportedly asking its suppliers and manufacturing partners to move around 15% to 30% of their production to Southeast Asia. The countries being considered for diversification include Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam and India, with the latter two among the favorites in discussion.
5 million Chinese rely on jobs made by Apple’s presence in the country, but the US-China trade wars has Apple worried. Especially given that Trump has threatened to levy a heavier tax on electronics, which is Apple’s main business. Apple’s partners Foxconn, Pegatron, Wistron, Quanta Computer, Compal Electronics, Inventec, Luxshare-ICT and Goertek has all been requested to consider manufacturing plants outside China.
So far, Wistron has assembled cheaper iPhones in India since 2017, and Foxconn has already commenced production in India, but at a very small scale. Over 90% of Apple products are currently assembled in China. 41 of Apple’s suppliers are based in China and Hong Kong, out of 200. A transition away from China will not be an easy task for Apple. Analysts expect at least 18 months before production can begin, and that’s after choosing a location.
Malaysia has been reportedly enjoying the fallout of the US-China trade wars, with Malaysia’s investment boosted by 73.4% year-on-year. Will we see Apple’s production plants add to that number?
Pokdepinion: The pride of seeing “Assembled in Malaysia” on the back of an iPhone might just make me get one!
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