Apple is continuing to reduce its dependence on suppliers in China by having the AirPods Max made in Vietnam — but currently still by Chinese-owned companies.
Following previous moves away from China to reduce the impact of US trade disputes, Apple is reportedly having its new AirPods Max assembled in Vietnam. However, the factories assembling the headphones are still owned by companies based in China.
AirPods Max are wireless headsets that Apple first introduced on December 8, with the product on sale for US$549, higher than both the 2020 iPhone SE and the AirPods combined.
According to Digitimes, supply chain sources say that the headphones are being assembled by the Chinese companies Luxshare Precision Industry and Goertek. These unnamed sources say that the two companies beat Taiwanese competitors to the job even though Inventec Appliances had in some way participated in the development of the AirPods Max.
This comes following recent years seeing Apple attempting to reduce its dependence on suppliers in the northern neighbor to avoid the impact of the trade war between the United States and China.
This served to not only intensify the production of accessories in other countries, but has seen Apple iPhone assemblers such as Foxconn Electronics and Wistron gradually move their production lines to India and the trend is set to continue into the future.
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Source: Vietnam Insider