Apple’s supplier Foxconn is planning to diversify its production with signing of a $300 million memorandum of understanding with Vietnamese developer Kinh Bac City to expand its facility in the north of the country. The Taiwanese company’s new factory on a plot of 125 acres in Bac Giang province will generate about 30000 local jobs.
The move follows a report this week that Foxconn has started test production of the Apple Watch in northern Vietnam. Foxconn which has been in Bac Giang for about 15 years has moved part of its iPad and Air pod’s production to Bac Giang’s Quang Chau Industrial Park. The Vietnamese government said last year that Foxconn had invested nearly about $1.5 billion in the southeast Asian country.
Strict COVID lockdowns in China recently and recent tensions with United States and Taiwan have forced many Taiwanese manufacturers to look for alternatives. Apple is one such company that is looking for alternatives to China manufacturing through its partners as a way to de risk its manufacturing and also to reduce dependence on China.
According to reports Apple is seeking suppliers to set up a test production line in Vietnam for the MacBook. Reports have also suggested that moving mass production machinery to Vietnam has been slow due to pandemic-related disruptions and also because of notebook computer production involves a larger supply chain.