Apple supplier Luxshare doubles Vietnam factory investments
Local reports claim Apple supplier Luxshare Precision Industry has been given the go-ahead to invest an additional $300m in its planned production plant in Vietnam.
Can you hear the music?
The investment is seen to reflect the Apple partner’s continued attempt to pivot out of China. It will now invest around half a billion dollars in its lant in Vietnam’s northern province of Bac Giang.
We think the plant may be used to make AirPods, cables, AirTags, Apple Pencils and Apple Watch. Local authorities have admitted to its use to make “cables for smart devices, communications equipment, touch pens, smart positioning tags and smartwatches.”
It will be situated across a 70-acre site and should be completed within around 24-months.
Apple now has at least 21 Apple suppliers in Vietnam, up from 11 in 2022 according to a local report in 2022. JP Morgan has previously said it expects 65% of AirPods will be made there by 2025. In December, Counterpoint analysts predicted India, Vietnam, and Brazil could account for 30% of Apple’s manufacturing within the coming years.
Apple recently opened up the first Apple online retail store in Vietnam.
Changing of the guard
Foxconn is also investing in production in Vietnam, where it says it intends production EV components. Apple’s main iPhone manufacturer is also investing heavily in India, where it continues to expand production facilities. It now makes iPhone 15 models for global consumption there. The number of iPhones made in India is expected to double across the coming year, reaching up to 25% of all iPhones made.
The one more thing in this story is that Luxshare has also been tasked with manufacturing Vision Pro devices for Apple, and this production is set to begin at its plant in China. Apple CEO Tim Cook visited the plant very recently on a bridge-building visit to China, where some have imagined he may also have approved the start of Vision Pro production to meet the company’s promised “early 2024” shipping promise.
Please follow me on Mastodon, or join me in the AppleHolic’s bar & grill and Apple Discussions groups on MeWe.
