Over the years, Apple has been focusing on moving its production base from China to other countries, so as not to rely entirely on China. The goal is to spread out the production across the globe, and the company continues to increase its iPhone production from India. According to a new report by the noted Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo of TF-International Securities, the company plans to start manufacturing MacBook models in Thailand.
Kuo predicts that the MacBook assembly is likely to be moved to Thailand. At present, the majority of the MacBook production happens in China and moving a portion of the production to a different country would benefit the company in terms of diversifying the production. Apple has already worked on moving a small portion of the MacBook production work to Vietnam.
Diversifying the production across the globe
The process of moving a small portion or the entire production of the MacBook to a different country will not be quick. Kuo reports that the production of majority MacBook units (sold in the United States) in other countries apart from China will take at least three to five years. The move will help the iPhone maker wade through the political issues and production issues faced during the coronavirus pandemic.
The iPhone maker will reportedly involve the Tata Group of India in the assembly of iPhones in India. The rumors of which have been swirling on the internet since September, in-addition to the fact that the assembly of iPhone 14 in India is set to start soon. Apple has never before assembled a newly launched iPhone series in India, in the same year of the release. In the previous years, the company would start assembling an iPhone series, only after it turned a year old or so.
Kuo says that manufacturing of Apple products in China could only serve the Chinese market in the future and production for the world be from other countries.