MacBooks likely to be ‘Assembled in Thailand’ as Apple diversifies from China dependence

As Apple continues to look to free itself from overwhelming dependence on China, the company is looking to diversify MacBook assembly by moving a significant portion of the work out of CCP-controlled China to Thailand.

Ming-Chi Kuo)via Twitter:

Apple’s global supply chain management strategy continues to change in response to the de-globalization trend, mainly to reduce the assembly business in China. Here are the latest major survey updates.

1. According to Apple’s plan, the Indian company Tata Group may cooperate with Pegatron or Wistron in the future to develop the iPhone assembly business. More than 80% of the iPhones made in India (by Foxconn) are currently to meet domestic demand. The potential cooperation of Tata Group and Pegatron or Wistron can accelerate the increase in the proportion of non-China iPhone production.

2. The main non-China production site for MacBook in the future may be Thailand. All MacBooks are currently assembled from production sites located in China.

3. In the medium term (within 3-5 years), at least the US market (~25-30%+ of global shipments) can be supplied by assembly sites located in non-China to reduce potential impacts from political risks (e.g., US-China tariffs).

4. In the long run:
(1) The non-Chinese markets will be supplied by assembly sites located in non-China, while the Chinese market will be supplied by assembly sites located in China.
(2) Assemblers can conduct NPI (new product introduction) in China and non-China.

(2/6)
1. According to Apple's plan, the Indian company Tata Group may cooperate with Pegatron or Wistron in the future to develop the iPhone assembly business. More than 80% of the iPhones made in India (by Foxconn) are currently to meet domestic demand.

— 郭明錤 (Ming-Chi Kuo) (@mingchikuo) October 11, 2022

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2. The main non-China production site for MacBook in the future may be Thailand. All MacBooks are currently assembled from production sites located in China.

— 郭明錤 (Ming-Chi Kuo) (@mingchikuo) October 11, 2022

(6/6)
4. In the long run:
(1) The non-Chinese markets will be supplied by assembly sites located in non-China, while the Chinese market will be supplied by assembly sites located in China.
(2) Assemblers can conduct NPI (new product introduction) in China and non-China.

— 郭明錤 (Ming-Chi Kuo) (@mingchikuo) October 11, 2022

MacDailyNews Take: Thanks to the CCP, for continuing to shoot itself in the foot with itsr quixotic “zero COVID” policies, Apple’s brass seems to have finally woken up to the dangers of putting all of their eggs in one basket.

• Diversification, especially away from China, reduces risk and benefits Apple. — <MacDailyNews, August 23, 2022

• Apple should have been diversifying production long ago to minimize risk, not to mention China’s human rights abuses, authoritarian censorship, and myriad other concerns. – MacDailyNews, May 23, 2022

• It’s smart for both Apple and Foxconn to diversify assembly outside of China. There’s no sense having all of your eggs in one basket. – MacDailyNews, April 2, 2019

• There’s no such thing as zero-COVID, but this year is the Chinese Communist Party’s 20th party congress, so the farce will continue until the politics no longer dictate tilting at windmills. Then COVID will be allowed to wash through China, as it already has around much of the world. – MacDailyNews, May 9, 2022

• In general, human-transmissible coronaviruses do not disappear. There is no such thing as zero-COVID. Duh.

COVID-19 is here to stay. It will very likely become endemic, yet pose less danger over time. People will acquire immunity via vaccines (effectiveness TDB) and naturally as they contract and recover from variants like omicron since the partially-effective vaccines permit not only transmissibility, but also breakthrough infections. Influenza and the four human coronaviruses that cause common colds (OC43, 229E, NL63 and HKU1) are, of course, also endemic, but a combination of annual flu vaccines and acquired immunity means that sane societies tolerate the unavoidable seasonal deaths and illnesses they bring without requiring lockdowns, masks, social distancing, indefinite return-to-work delays, etc.

At which point, if ever, will some people decide that wasting away their short lives in abject fear of a bad flu, very likely engineered by China and partially funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health, is a hysterical self-defeating overreaction? – MacDailyNews, December 16, 2021

• The real virus is the panic. – MacDailyNews, March 9, 2020

See also: Apple looks to diversify manufacturing outside of China due to draconian COVID-19 restrictions — May 23, 2022

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