Apple could begin manufacturing iPads in Vietnam by the middle of this year, which is the first time a “significant number” of tablets have been produced outside China, Nikkei reports. In addition to changing iPad production, Apple is also reportedly increasing the number of iPhones manufactured in India, where some iPhone 11 units have been manufactured since last year. It will reportedly start manufacturing iPhones of the iPhone 12 series in the country as early as this quarter.
The report paints a picture of a company increasingly eager to diversify its manufacturing out of China, despite hopes it could ease trade tensions under President Biden. Nikkei the new government has said that tariffs on Chinese imports will not be eased immediately, and that there are other factors such as rising labor costs in China that should make Apple and other companies look for alternative manufacturing hubs.
Besides iPhones and iPads, Nikkei reports that Apple is increasing the production of a number of other devices outside China. Following reports last year that Apple had moved a number of AirPods Pro manufactures to Vietnam, Nikkei says he also plans to expand the HomePod mini-production in the country and will also move some MacBook production. (Reuters reported on Apple’s earlier plans to move MacBook and iPad production to Vietnam last year.) Some Mac mini production was also moved to Malaysia, Nikkei notes.
The news about Apple’s shifting supply chains comes just less than two years after it emerged that Apple planned to relocate between 15 and 30 percent of its production from China. It now appears that much of the shift is well underway.