Apple is about to produce millions of AirPods in Vietnam

According to sources at the Nikkei Asian Review, millions of AirPods wireless earphones are about to be made by Apple in Vietnam this quarter. This can be seen as a sign that the giant is speeding up the process of diversifying its production out of China during the Covid-19 pandemic.

According to these sources, about 3 million to 4 million products - accounting for 30% of all AirPods produced this quarter - will be labeled "Made in Vietnam". However, manufacturing activities in Vietnam do not include AirPods Pro - a more advanced version with noise protection feature that Apple introduced in October last year.

For now, most AirPods - including the $ 159 AirPods and 249-inch AirPods Pro - are still made in China, although some of these wearables were subject to an additional tax by the Trump administration in 2016. last.

A source said. " Mass production of AirPods in Vietnam began in early March. Even Vietnamese officials even issued special licenses to an important AirPods assembler to help the company bring engineers. to their home country in order to maintain continuous production during the blockade . "

Since last year, Apple has asked supply partners to evaluate plans to move from 15% to 30% of hardware production out of China. Previously, GoerTek, Apple's main AirPods assembler, began moving production to Vietnam in October 2018 and began trial production last year.

According to sources Nikkei, another Apple supplier, Luxshare Precision Industry, has also invested in the Southeast Asian country since last year and has obtained Apple certification for mass production of headphones. wireless here. According to Nikkei, another AirPods assembler, Inventec is currently building a factory in Vietnam at the request of Apple.

Not only assemblers, a more complete supply chain for Apple products is being formed in Northern Vietnam, which has long manufactured EarPods wired headphones for the tech giant. .

Merry Electronics, a supplier of audio components for Apple, is working with Luxshare to build a production facility in Vietnam that can operate early this summer. Many other Apple suppliers, such as iPhone assemblers, Foxconn and Pegatron, and iPad assemblers, Compal Electronics, are expanding their production activities in Vietnam. Not just to increase production for Apple but also other technology companies, such as Google and Amazon.

Although the United States and China signed an agreement to mitigate trade conflicts earlier this year, the global pandemic outbreak is becoming a reminder for technology companies about the importance of diversification. chemical production.

That turned the transition away from China into an irreversible trend. Especially when the US-China trade tensions are reoccurring as many officials in the Trump administration demand sanctions on China for its handling of the pandemic. Japan even supports companies moving production out of China.

Willy Shih, a management professor at Harvard Business School, told Nikkei that the global pandemic will force many technology firms to reconsider supply chain continuity. Currently, even though China is still the best place to produce, " a likely scenario for large companies will be the China + One model. China along with one or two other countries, even with three other countries in the long run . " Mr. Shih said.