iPhone maker explores production bases beyond its longtime stronghold of China
Staff Report
Bengaluru: Apple CEO said that it is looking into building a manufacturing facility in Indonesia as the iPhone maker explores production bases beyond its longtime stronghold of China.
His comments came a day after the CEO made a similar pledge to Vietnam, already a growing source of Apple devices including AirPods.
Apple is diversifying its manufacturing beyond China to minimise geopolitical risks as tensions rise between the world’s two biggest superpowers.
It has already increased output in countries such as India and Vietnam, and production in Indonesia could help it better tap a relatively fast-growing Southeast Asian market with more than 650 million consumers.
Apple chief executive Tim Cook met President Joko Widodo, who hoped the tech giant would increase its local content by partnering with domestic firms.
Cook is in Jakarta to inaugurate its fourth developer academy on the island of Bali.
“We talked about the president’s desire to see manufacturing in the country, and it is something that we will look at,” Cook told reporters after the meeting.
Apple has no manufacturing facilities in Indonesia, but since 2018 it has been setting up app developer academies, which including the new academy have a total cost of $99 million.
Indonesia’s industry minister, Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita, who also attended the meeting, said that if Apple decided to build manufacturing facility in Indonesia, it would have the capacity to produce for export.
“We will discuss how Apple’s facility in Indonesia could become a global supply chain,” he said, adding that the government said that even if Apple didn’t built a factory, it could partner with Indonesian companies to obtain components.
Apple has met Indonesia’s 35 per cent local content requirement to sell its products by investing in developer academies, Agus said, but the government hoped that number could be pushed higher with a manufacturing facility.
That’s according to an update from the Chinese search giant, which says it’s now making money from the bot.
Apple has based much of its key manufacturing of iPads, AirPods and Apple Watches in Vietnam; suppliers for MacBooks are also investing in the country.
Indonesia has a huge, tech-savvy population, making the Southeast Asian nation a key target market for tech-related investment.
