Apple's manufacturing moves away from China are a drop in the ocean:
Matching the scale of Chinese operations is a gargantuan task even for the world's most valuable company.
Production centers are popping up in Mexico, India, Vietnam, as well as the US, according to a new report in the Wall Street Journal, which cites a recent list of suppliers released by Apple. But no country can yet match the scale of operations Apple built in China, and that presents risks for the Cupertino giant.
Operations in China have suffered because of heightening geopolitical tensions. More recent pandemic-induced lockdowns and squeezed supply chains have made diversify production even more important for the American firm.
Why Apple needs to detach from China:
- China's "covid zero" strategy is inviting a string of uncertain lockdowns. Apple's partner in Guiyang, which operates the server center that houses all online data generated and stored by hundreds of millions of Chinese iPhone users, barred employees from leaving the premises.
- Apple, which paused sales in Russia after the country invaded Ukraine, might be reconsidering its ties to countries ruled by autocrats.
- Dissociating from China is politically advantageous for Apple's image at home, where president Joe Biden recently signed a law assigning $50 billion direct aid for building semiconductor plants in the US.
This discussion was created by janrinok (52) for logged-in users only, but now has been archived.
No new comments can be posted.
Apple's Manufacturing Moves Away From China are a Drop in the Ocean
|
Log In/Create an Account
| Top
| 3 comments
| Search Discussion
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
(1)
(1)
(Score: 2) by oumuamua on Monday October 10 2022, @11:27PM (1 child)
Their market share in China has eroded almost as fast as the original iPhone obliterated Nokia and Blackberry sales.
https://www.counterpointresearch.com/china-smartphone-share/ [counterpointresearch.com]
(Score: 2) by looorg on Tuesday October 11 2022, @10:59AM
Really? If one looks at the entire page and graphs depicting market shares from Q1 2017 until Q2 2022 it doesn't really look like Apple is losing any market share. It's about the same but in some regard they have increased a few percentages per year with big spikes every time they launch something new. Sure they are not the number one brand or anything like that, but that isn't really their segment either and it would be true for a lot of countries. They don't want to the be the basic every man phone for the common people, they are a luxury brand in their mind and the cost is linked to that.
Being in China is starting to be an issue in regards to price, people and political issues. Question is which is the next or new China production hub. Are they moving home? To Mexico? To Africa?
(Score: 2) by MIRV888 on Tuesday October 11 2022, @01:43AM
I'd move their production to Taiwan.