Apple continues its move to diversify production as it expands its Vietnamese operations

Apple continues to change the way that it works and produces its many different products, with the latest news being that it has started to expand its presence and operations in Vietnam. The move comes as Apple continues to work with its supply chain partners to reduce the company's reliance on China.

According to a press release shared by the company, Apple has announced it will increase spending on suppliers that are based in Vietnam as well as progress an initiative to support clean water for local schools. The company says that it first started to operate in Vietnam more than a decade ago and is currently supporting more than 200,000 jobs across the country. Not all of those people are employed by Apple directly, however, with Apple also including supply chains and iOS app developers in the figure.

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9to5Mac notes that Foxconn already produces a number of Apple products in Vietnam including iPads and AirPods, while there is also talk of Mac production moving to the country as well. Foxconn isn't the only Apple supplier with a presence in Vietnam either, with the company's other AirPods suppliers having been told to move production out of China with Vietnam one likely destination.

Apple has been steadily encouraging its partners to move away from China where possible in an effort to stabilize the supply chain and reduce reliance on a single country. The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted that having all of its production eggs in one country's basket left the company open to issues. In the case of Foxconn, Chinese lockdowns caused the production of key products, including Apple's best iPhones, to be extremely limited at times. The AirPods Max and other products were also hard to get a hold of because of limitations in the supply chain.