Graphics

‘Made by China’ Hiding in SE Asia: A 10-year analysis of Apple supply chain

The U.S.-China trade war and China’s zero-COVID shutdowns accelerated Apple’s desire to move production out of China and diversify its manufacturing bases. But after combing through lists of Apple’s suppliers over the past 10 years, CommonWealth Magazine found that the number of Chinese enterprises among those suppliers actually increased rather than decreased, squeezing out American and Japanese companies.

Views

369

By Sophie Lin, Yingyu Chen, Steven Yeo, Sylvia Lee, Silva Shih
web only
2024-01-31

前往中文版調整字體尺寸

It has been 16 years since the first iPhone was unveiled. Today, Apple continues to make global headlines, and its evolving supply chain has emerged as a focus of attention.

Amid the technology war between China and the United States and disruptions from the COVID-19 pandemic, Apple’s manufacturing locations have undergone major changes, but the changes may not be what many people might have imagined.

In combing through Apple supplier lists from 2012 to October 2022, consisting of more than 7,000 pieces of data, CommonWealth clearly noticed a trend toward fewer factories in China and a surge in factories in Southeast Asia and India, which have become new havens for the manufacturing of Apple products.

But that was only scratching the surface. Underlying this basic trend were some surprises.

Check out the graphic story: ‘Made by China’ Hiding in SE Asia｜A 10-year analysis of Apple supply chain