Apple has asked its major suppliers to assess the cost implications of moving 15 -30 per cent of their production capacity from China to southeast Asia as it prepares for a restructuring of its supply chain, according to a Nikkei Asian Review report on Wednesday. The iPhone maker has decided the risks of depending heavily on manufacturing in China are too great and even rising, it said. Key iPhone assemblers Foxconn, Pegatron, Wistron, major MacBook maker Quanta Computer, iPad maker Compal Electronics, and AirPods makers Inventec, Luxshare-ICT and Goertek have been asked to evaluate options outside of China, Nikkei reported. China is a key market for Apple as well as a major production centre for its devices. Apple and Foxconn did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the report.

Source: The Irish Times June 19, 2019 13:41 UTC