Apple suppliers’ exodus from China won’t slow down under Biden

The Apple iPhone 12 Mini at the Apple store in Sydney, Australia. Apple, whose CEO Tim Cook orchestrated the creation of its current Chinese-centric production chain, has resisted a large-scale move but in recent years has increasingly explored alternatives. — Bloomberg

The splintering of the global tech supply chain that began during US President Donald Trump’s watch looks set to persist under his successor.

Apple Inc, the largest of the many tech giants that rely on Chinese factories to make their gadgets, will move some production of its iPads and MacBooks to Vietnam. Key assembly partner Hon Hai Precision Industry Co, known also as Foxconn, has allocated US$270mil (RM1.09bil) in new investments to the South-East Asian country. Those moves presage a larger and longer-term migration that may have ramifications for the iPhone maker as well as China’s role as workshop to the world.