Apple in Talks With Suppliers to Make MacBook Models in Thailand as Company Looks Beyond China: Report

Apple is in talks with suppliers to make MacBooks in Thailand as the company continues to expand its manufacturing footprint outside of China, Nikkei reported on Thursday.

Suppliers who are participating in these talks have existing manufacturing complexes in Thailand for other clients and are discussing possible assembly and production of components and modules for MacBooks, sources from three suppliers directly involved in the conversations with Apple told Nikkei.

Apple did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Apple and its key suppliers have been shifting production away from China as they seek to avoid a potential hit to business from mounting Sino-US trade frictions.

Earlier this week, it was reported that Apple took the largest hit as global shipments of personal computers (PCs) fell by 29 percent in the first quarter of 2023 due to weak demand, excess inventory and a deteriorating macroeconomic climate.

In the report published Sunday, the International Data Corporation (IDC) said global PC shipments numbered 56.9 million in the first quarter of this year, down from 80.2 million in the same period last year.

Of the top five PC companies analysed in the report, Apple’s Q1 shipments saw the largest drop of 40.5 percent from the same period in 2022, with Dell Technologies coming in second with a drop of 31 percent.

In February, Apple reported that sales of its Mac computers, which had boomed during the wave of working from home during the pandemic, declined 29 percent YoY to $7.7 billion (roughly Rs. 63,083 crore) in their most recent quarter.

© Thomson Reuters 2023