Over the past few years, Apple has begun to evaluate a gradual withdrawal of its production chain from China, in order to considerably reduce dependence on the Asian giant. The reasons behind this need are many, starting with avoiding being stuck again in the trade conflict between the United States and China, which is why the Cupertino company seems to have recently notified its suppliers of this decision, at least according to the WSJ.
Obviously Apple is well aware of the fact that a complete exit from China is impossible to achieve and this is not even what the company is looking for, since the main goal is to achieve a greater diversification of the supply chain. It seems that the movements in this direction have already begun and that the first product to drive the change will be the AirPods Pro 2the next generation premium headphones that are expected to be unveiled this fall.
To give us this perspective is the usual Ming-Chi Kuo, who commented on the WSJ report mentioned above, adding some details relating to the production of the AirPods Pro 2. According to reports from Kuo, in fact, the headphones will represent one of the first successful cases of mass production started outside of Chinaparticularly in Vietnam.
There are several reasons why Apple chose to start this experiment with the AirPods Pro 2, including the relative ease in preparing an effective production line for a product of this type. Vietnam was chosen as it is the country that can offer the best working conditions (obviously for those who produce, certainly not for the workers) and infrastructural among the possible candidates from outside China.
According to Kuo, it is not yet possible to reproduce the same model for more complex products at the moment, and even the AirPods Pro 2 will not be 100% made in Vietnam, as some aspects of production will still be handled in China, testifying to how it is. really difficult to completely break free from this market. Kuo also added that Apple’s main Chinese partners – such as Luxshare and Goertek – are starting to position themselves in Vietnam, a country much more stable than its second choice, India.
Finally, Kuo also returned to the topic of the Type-C connector, stating that he does not expect the adoption of this port on the housing of the new headphones, assuming instead that once again the Lightning connector will be the master.
