American tech giant Apple Inc. is considering moving a part of its production from China to Vietnam, according to a report published by the Nikkei on Wednesday, with Apple Watch and Macbook being the first products on the transfer list.
People familiar with the plans revealed to the newspaper that Apple's suppliers Foxconn and Luxshare Precision recently opened test production lines in northern Vietnam with the goal of producing the first Apple Watch outside China. Vietnam already makes AirPods headphones and iPad tables for Apple, however, Vietnam would have to upgrade its manufacturing lines in order to produce more complex products such as Apple Watch.
The reason behind Apple's decision to shift production away from China comes mainly due to Beijing's zero-COVID policy that has put multi-million cities into strict lockdown throughout the pandemic, including the business hub of Shanghai.
