In recent weeks, according to Wall Street Journal Apple has accelerated plans to move some of its production out of China.
Apparently, Apple is asking vendors to more actively plan product assembly elsewhere in Asia particularly India and Vietnam, to reduce reliance on Taiwanese assemblers led by Foxconn.
The turmoil in the city of Zhengzhou (China) has helped drive Apple’s turnaround. There, up to 300,000 workers work in a factory run by Foxconn to make iPhones and other Apple products. At one point, this factory alone made 85% of the Pro line of iPhones.
The Zhengzhou factory was rocked in late November by violent protests. In videos posted online, workers upset over wages and Covid-19 restrictions could be seen throwing objects and chanting “Stand up for your rights!”
These developments have weakened China’s status as a stable manufacturing hub, and Apple is no longer comfortable with having its business tied up in one place, analysts say. So Apple has told its manufacturing partners that it wants them to start trying to do more of this work outside of China.
