Apple Amps Up China Ops Despite Trade Tensions

Tim Cook’s custom-made Labubu wears black glasses and holds a tiny iPhone 17. Pop Mart gifted little Tim-Bubu to the Apple CEO while he was visiting Shanghai as part of a goodwill-building trip to China. The visit’s not PTO: Cook promised yesterday to boost investment in Labubu’s home country, despite its rocky relationship with the White House. 

The announcement comes months after Apple said it would invest $100 billion in US factories as part of its “American Manufacturing Program.” Despite the domestic push, the majority of Apple’s manufacturing still occurs abroad, and that isn’t changing. 

In other words, the Cupertino, California-based tech giant isn’t ready to break up with China, even as it hedges its bets by building up its operations in Vietnam and India.

The Blue-Bubble Ecosystem’s Expanding

Apple has a ton of new products to build. The tech company announced yesterday new MacBooks, iPads and Vision Pro goggles — all upgraded with its latest AI-boosted M5 chip. And just last month, Apple debuted its latest iPhone and Apple Watch models ahead of its big holiday-season sales push. 

Apple’s also working on a new line of smart-home devices that includes security cameras and a display for controlling the system via an AI-upgraded Siri, Bloomberg reported. A one-armed tabletop robot is also said to be in the works (the arm could, for instance, move the screen to scroll a recipe while your hands are covered in cookie dough). 

With so many products in the pipeline, Apple is tapping multiple countries for manufacturing:

• The smart home line will be built in Vietnam with help from leading EV-maker BYD, which Apple will also build iPads with, Bloomberg reported. Apple already manufactures other products in Vietnam but has historically launched new product lines in China before expanding them to other countries. Making Vietnam the home line’s home base signals a strategy shift.
• Apple has also expanded its production in India, where it now manufactures approximately 20% of its iPhones. Some products, including Macs, are also made in Malaysia and Thailand now. 

iEverywhere: Apple relies on China for its manufacturing expertise and low-cost labor. No matter how tense the trade war between China and the US grows, Apple will be hard-pressed to give up on the country. But as Cook faces the prospect of ultra-high tariffs, other trade restrictions, and awkward group chats with the POTUS, he’s moving more of Apple’s supply chain to other countries. Of course, those countries are facing trade trouble, too: The Trump administration has tacked a 20% tariff on goods from Vietnam and a 50% levy on products from India (Apple products made in the country haven’t been affected so far).