Nikkei Asia reported that Apple asked some of theirs iPad suppliers in China to shift more production to Vietnam due to Covid-19 situation.

Apple has asked BYD company – theirs partner to move the iPad assembly line to Vietnam to reduce its dependence on the supply chain in Shanghai.

As expected, iPad will be produced in Vietnam for the first time in June 2022

iPad factory project in Vietnam

According to Zing News, BYD Vietnam’s factory is located in Phu Ha Industrial Park, Phu Tho town, Phu Tho province. The project is invested with a total capital of 6,231 billion VND, equivalent to 270 million USD. BYD’s Phase I factory is expected to start mass production from June this year.

iPad factory in Phu Tho is invested 6,231 billion VND

The project has been granted construction permit number 33/GPXD by the Management Board of Industrial Parks (IZs) of Phu Tho province from December 2021. According to the investment plan (September 2021), BYD Vietnam factory consists of 2 phases. Phase I includes a factory area of 200,000 m2, annual capacity of 4,325,069 tablets and 50 million optical prism products.

Apple’s plan to expand iPad production in Vietnam has been rekindled since 2020 due to tensions in the US-China trade war. In January 2021, Nikkei reported that Apple was expanding its iPad production facilities outside of China, with the expected destination being Vietnam. However, the complicated situation of COVID-19 last year caused this plan to be postponed.

Apple’s plan to expand production in Vietnam in 2021 has been postponed due to COVID-19

Nikkei Asia assessed that this move not only shows Apple’s efforts in diversifying the supply chain, but also shows the increasing importance of Vietnam to this technology group.

Other Apple partner factories in Vietnam

Before that, there were 31 partner factories outsourcing original equipment for Apple in 14 provinces and cities in Vietnam with about 160,000 employees; specializes in manufacturing hardware (such as electrical panels, cameras, screens…) for Apple products and assembling and finishing products. Some large factories of Foxconn (Bac Giang, Quang Ninh), Luxshare (Bac Giang), GoerTek (Nghe An, Bac Ninh), Compal (Vinh Phuc) are all important production locations of Apple.