Apple is shifting some of its AirPods production to Vietnam this quarter due to a new coronavirus outbreak, Nikkei Asian Review reported on Friday citing people familiar with the matter.
Apple will move about 30 percent of its base version of AirPods (about 3 million to 4 million units) to Vietnam for production, the report said. Analysts say the move will further boost Apple's supply chain diversification.
"The mass production of AirPods in Vietnam started as early as in March," a person familiar with the matter said. "The Vietnamese officials even granted special permits for a key Apple AirPods assembler to help the company bring in engineers to the country for smooth production during lockdowns."
Vietnam began easing some lockdown measures in late April.
In fact, it was reported last June that Apple was interested in trialing AirPods in Vietnam and asked suppliers to consider shifting 15 to 30 percent of production from China to other parts of Southeast Asia.
At the same time, analysts point out that despite this, China remains a key market for Apple and continues to play the role of a major production center.
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