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Apple expanding supplier base in China, Southeast Asia, and India

Jingyue Hsiao, DIGITIMES Asia, Taipei 0

Credit: AFP

As manufacturers embark on massive relocation efforts to build a more resilient supply chain, Apple is expanding its supplier base in most Asian countries.

According to the latest Apple supplier list, the number of manufacturing facilities/locations of Apple's top 200 suppliers grew in 2022 in China, Japan, Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, and India. However, manufacturing facilities/locations in the US and South Korea have dropped from 72 to 62 and 42 to 36, respectively.

The latest list shows that Apple's supplier base in South and Southeast Asia is growing amid Apple's diversification move. Meanwhile, Apple keeps expanding its reliance on China, a sign that Apple is likely to prepare for a decoupled global manufacturing ecosystem.

Due to Apple's change of methodology, disclosing only "locations" instead of "facilities," the numbers of certain geographies, including Taiwan, cannot be compared historically. For example, Apple said that TSMC had five "facilities" globally in 2021 but had three manufacturing "locations" globally in 2022. The methodology change led to fewer listed manufacturing locations of Apple suppliers in Taiwan, from 72 to 41.

Furthermore, Apple changed its methodology regarding Puerto Rico and labeled it under the United States in the latest list instead of under Puerto Rico in 2021.

Some China-based manufacturers joined the Apple top 200 supplier list, including Consumer HK Holdco II Limited, Bichamp Cutting Technology, Shenzhen Forceblack Technology, Sunny Optical, and Zhuhai CosMX Battery.

Taiwan-based Inventec, Kinsus Interconnect Technology, and Ko Jia did not make it into the latest Apple supplier list, while Platinum Optics, Primax, Radiant Opto-Electronics, and Winbond Electronics joined the ranks of suppliers.

In India, Apple added Molex, Onsemi, and Shenzhen Everwin Prevision Technology to its top 200 supplier list as Apple continues to require manufacturers to invest in India, except for Wistron, which is in talks to sell its iPhone manufacturing business to Tata. Although Tata has begun assembling iPhone SEs and the trial production of iPhone 15, Tata is not included in the latest list as the list only discloses the top 200, not all, suppliers of Apple.

Apple supplier base by manufacturing facilities/locations

Location

2016

2020

2021

2022

China

346

259

262

276

Japan

126

96

101

124

US

78

49

74

62

Taiwan

41

37

72

41

South Korea

29

30

42

36

Thailand

19

19

22

28

Vietnam

18

23

27

27

Malaysia

23

15

24

25

Singapore

12

14

24

21

Philippines

19

18

18

19

India

1

9

11

14

Germany

10

9

11

10

Others

56

31

44

26

Source: Apple, May 2023

Annual comparisn of Apple suppliers in selected geographies

Location

Supplier

2021

2022

China

AAC Acoustic Technologies Holdings

Y

Y

AKM Meadville Electronics (Xiamen) Company

Y

Y

Baotou Inst Magnetic New Materials

Y

Y

Beijing Zhong Ke San Huan High-Tech

Y

Y

Bichamp Cutting Technology (Hunan)

N

Y

Biel Crystal Manufactory

Y

Y

BOE Technology Group Company

Y

Y

BYD Company

Y

Y

Cathay Tat Ming Precision Metal Products Company

Y

Y

Chengdu Homin Technology Company

Y

Y

China Circuit Technology (Shantou)

Y

Y

CN Innovations Holdings

Y

Y

Consumer HK Holdco II

Y

N

Cosmosupplylab

Y

Y

Cowell E Holdings

Y

Y

CPT

Y

N

Crystal-Optech

Y

Y

Fujian Nanping Aluminium Company

Y

Y

Future Hi Tech Company

Y

N

GigaDevice Semiconductor

Y

Y

GoerTek

Y

Y

Hama Naka Shoukin Industry Company

Y

Y

J.Pond Industry (Dongguan) Company

Y

Y

JCET Group Company

Y

Y

Jiangsu Gian Technology Company

Y

Y

Jiangsu Kangrui New Material TechnologyLtd.

N

Y

Jiangyin Kangrui Molding Technology Company

Y

N

Kunshan Kersen Science and Technology Company

Y

Y

Lens Technology Company

Y

Y

Lingyi iTech (Guangdong) Company

Y

Y

Luen Fung Group

Y

Y

Luxshare Precision Industry Company

Y

Y

MYS Group Company

Y

Y

Paishing Technology Company

Y

N

Shandong Innovation Group

Y

Y

Shanghai Industrial Holdings

Y

Y

Shenzhen Deren Electronic Company

Y

Y

Shenzhen Desay Battery Technology Company

Y

Y

Shenzhen Everwin Precision Technology Company

Y

Y

Shenzhen Forceblack Technology

N

Y

Shenzhen Fortunta Technology Company

Y

N

Shenzhen Linkconn Electronics

Y

Y

Shenzhen Sunway Communication Company

Y

Y

Shenzhen YUTO Packaging Technology Company

Y

Y

Sunny Optical Technology.

N

Y

Sunwoda Electronic Company

Y

Y

Suzhou Anjie Technology Company

Y

Y

Suzhou Dongshan Precision Manufacturing Company

Y

Y

Suzhou Zhongjiemai Panel Industry Technology Company

Y

Y

Taishan City Kam Kiu Aluminium Extrusion Company

Y

Y

Tianma Micro-Electronics (Hong Kong)

Y

N

Tongda Group Holdings

Y

Y

Wingtech Technology

Y

Y

Winox Holdings

Y

Y

Zhenghe Group

Y

N

Zhuhai CosMX Battery.

N

Y

Japan

AGC

Y

Y

Alps Alpine Company

Y

Y

Dexerials Corporation

Y

Y

ENEOS Holdings

Y

N

Fujikura

Y

Y

Hirose Electric Company

Y

Y

Hitachi

Y

Y

Japan Aviation Electronics Industry

Y

Y

Japan Display

Y

Y

JX Nippon Mining & Metals

N

Y

Keiwa Inc.

N

Y

Kioxia Holdings Corporation

Y

Y

Kyocera Corporation

Y

Y

MegaChips Corporation

Y

N

MinebeaMitsumi

Y

Y

Murata Manufacturing Company

Y

Y

Nichia Corporation

Y

Y

Nidec Corporation

Y

Y

Nippon Light Metal Holdings Company

Y

Y

Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corporation

N

Y

Nissha Company

Y

Y

Nitto Denko Corporation

Y

Y

NOK Corporation

Y

Y

Panasonic Corporation

Y

Y

Renesas Electronics Corporation

Y

Y

Rohm Company

Y

Y

Sharp Corporation

Y

Y

Sony Corporation

Y

Y

Sumida Corporation

N

Y

Sumitomo Chemical Company

Y

Y

Sumitomo Electric Industries

Y

Y

Taiyo Yuden Company

Y

Y

TDK Corporation

Y

Y

Toyoda Gosei

Y

Y

UACJ Corporation

Y

N

South Korea

Bumchun Precision Company

Y

Y

Derkwoo Electronics Company

Y

Y

LG Chem

Y

Y

LG Display Company

Y

Y

LG Innotek Company

Y

Y

LX Semicon

Y

Y

POSCO International

Y

Y

Samsung Electro-Mechanics Company

Y

Y

Samsung Electronics Company

Y

Y

Samsung SDI Company

Y

Y

Seoul Semiconductor

Y

Y

SK hynix

Y

Y

Young Poong Corporation

Y

Y

Taiwan

Advanced Semiconductor Engineering

Y

Y

Asia Vital Components Company

Y

N

Career Technology (Mfg) Company

Y

Y

Catcher Technology Company

Y

Y

Cheng Uei Precision Industry Company (Foxlink)

Y

Y

Compal Electronics

Y

Y

Compeq Manufacturing Company

Y

Y

Concraft Holding Company

N

N

CymMetrik Enterprise Company

Y

Y

Dynapack International Technology Corporation

Y

Y

Flexium Interconnect

Y

Y

General Interface Solution

Y

Y

Genius Electronic Optical Company

Y

Y

Global Lighting Technologies

Y

Y

Foxconn

Y

Y

Inventec Corporation

Y

N

Kinsus Interconnect Technology Corporation

Y

N

Ko Ja (Cayman)

Y

N

Largan Precision Company

Y

Y

Lite-On Technology Corporation

Y

Y

LOTES Company

Y

Y

Nanya Technology Corporation

Y

Y

Novatek Microelectronics

N

Y

Parade Technologies

Y

Y

Pegatron Corporation

Y

Y

Phone In Mag-Electronics Company

Y

Y

Pioneer Material Precision Tech Company

Y

Y

Platinum Optics Technology Inc.

N

Y

Primax Electronics

N

Y

Quanta Computer

Y

Y

Radiant Opto-Electronics Corporation

N

Y

Shin Zu Shing Company

Y

Y

Simplo Technology Company

Y

Y

Sunrex Technology Corporation

Y

Y

Taiwan Hodaka Technology Company

Y

Y

Taiwan Surface Mounting Technology Corporation

Y

Y

TPK Holding Company

Y

Y

Triotek Technology

Y

Y

Tripod Technology Corporation

Y

Y

TSMC

Y

Y

TXC Corporation

Y

Y

Unimicron Technology Corporation

Y

Y

Unitech Printed Circuit Board Corporation

Y

Y

Winbond Electronics Corporation

N

Y

Wistron Corporation

Y

Y

Yageo Corporation

Y

Y

Zhen Ding Technology Holding

Y

Y

US

3M

Y

Y

Advanced Micro Devices

Y

N

Alpha and Omega Semiconductor

Y

Y

Amkor Technology

Y

Y

Amphenol Corporation

Y

Y

Analog Devices

Y

Y

Boyd Corporation

Y

Y

Broadcom

Y

Y

Cirrus Logic

Y

Y

Coherent Corporation

N

Y

Corning

Y

Y

Diodes

Y

Y

II-VI

Y

N

Intel Corporation

Y

Y

Jabil

Y

Y

Knowles Corporation

Y

Y

Lattice Semiconductor Corporation

Y

Y

Lumentum Holdings

Y

Y

Marian

Y

Y

MicroChip Technology

Y

Y

Micron Technology

Y

Y

Molex

Y

Y

ON Semiconductor Corporation

Y

Y

Power Integrations

Y

Y

Qorvo

Y

Y

Quadrant Solutions

Y

Y

QUALCOMM

Y

Y

R.R. Donnelley and Sons Company

Y

Y

Skyworks Solutions

Y

Y

Synaptics

Y

Y

Texas Instruments

Y

Y

The Chemours Company

N

Y

Trinseo S.A.

N

Y

Trio Metal Company

Y

N

Viavi Solutions

Y

Y

Western Digital Corporation

Y

Y

Source: Apple, May 2024