Apple Accelerates Decoupling from China, Set to Launch in Vietnam Next Week

First Online Store Opening
MacBook Production Also Within This Year

Apple is expanding into the Vietnamese market following its entry into India. This move comes less than a month after opening its first offline store in India's financial and political capital.

On the 11th (local time), major foreign media reported that Apple will open its first online store in Vietnam next week. The industry views this online store opening as a preliminary step toward offline expansion. Apple has not yet confirmed the timing for opening offline stores in Vietnam.

Vietnam is home to production plants of Apple's key partners, and there are expectations that MacBook production bases will be relocated to Vietnam within the year amid the trend of moving away from China. According to Bloomberg, Quanta Computer, Apple's MacBook contract manufacturer, has signed a contract with the local government in Nam Dinh City, northern Vietnam, to establish a new factory worth $120 million. Reports also indicate that Foxconn, Apple's largest partner based in Taiwan, may start MacBook production in Vietnam as early as this month.

Vietnam was one of the few countries whose gross domestic product (GDP) did not contract during the COVID-19 pandemic, showing a rapid recovery with an 8% GDP growth rate last year.

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

Earlier, on the 18th and 20th of last month, Apple opened Apple Stores in Mumbai and New Delhi, respectively. Tim Cook, Apple's CEO, personally attended the events marking the opening of the first stores in India's financial and political capitals. Apple first entered India in 2020. Initially, it sold products through local e-commerce platforms such as Flipkart and Amazon, then launched its own online store in September 2020 to begin direct sales.

The iPhone holds only about a 5% share of the Indian smartphone market, but its growth potential is high. To target India more effectively, Apple restructured its overseas business division by establishing India as a separate headquarters. Previously, India was grouped under a department covering the Middle East, Mediterranean, Eastern Europe, and Africa. CEO Cook expressed optimism, stating, "The young population and high consumption potential of the Indian market will provide Apple with more growth opportunities."

This optimism has been reflected in results. Apple's total revenue for the first quarter of this year (Apple's fiscal second quarter) decreased by 2.5% year-on-year. However, emerging Asian markets, including India, grew by 15.3%. During the same period, revenue in the largest markets, the United States and China, declined by 7.6% and 2.9%, respectively, compared to the previous year.

CEO Cook stated, "Apple is setting new revenue records every quarter in the Indian market and is achieving double-digit growth annually."

[Image source=AFP Yonhap News]

Foreign media interpret Apple's focus on emerging markets as an effort to reduce uncertainties in its China business amid escalating US-China trade tensions. For several years, Apple has been relocating key suppliers from China, its largest production base, to India. During the US-China trade dispute under the Trump administration, Apple insisted on production in China, but as the risk of tariffs on China became apparent, it began moving away from China. The supply chain disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic starting in 2020 dealt a direct blow.

Foxconn has begun building a new production base in India with an investment exceeding $700 million. This is the largest single investment ever made in the Indian market. Through this, Apple plans to increase the proportion of production in India from the current 5% to 25%.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.