Major partners BOE Technology, Foxconn, Goertek, Quanta Computer… poured another billion USD to set up factories: Vietnam is becoming Apple’s new “headquarters”

An agent representative also recently “revealed” that Apple may elevate the Vietnamese market to the highest priority and open the first Apple Store when launching iPhone 16.

Biel Crystal – Apple’s major glass partner – has just proposed to invest in a 6,000 billion VND project in An Phat 1 industrial park, Nam Sach district, following the wave of shifting production of this “giant” of smart devices to Vietnam.

Previously, BOE Technology Group announced plans to pour 400 million USD to build 2 factories in Vietnam and negotiated land lease in the North at the beginning of the year. BOE has been included in Apple’s list of manufacturing partners since 2021, and is forecast to become the largest screen supplier for new iPhone models in 2024.

In April 2023, Quanta Computer also signed an agreement with the People’s Committee of Nam Dinh province to develop a 22.5ha computer factory with a total investment of 120 million USD in My Thuan Industrial Park, Nam Dinh province. Quanta Computer is one of Apple’s largest Macbook and Apple Watch assembly partners.

Or Apple’s trio of familiar partners in Vietnam, Foxconn, Luxshare and Goertek, all increased capital and expanded their Vietnamese factories recently. Sales of Apple’s three major partners, Foxconn, Luxshare and Goertek, in our country continue to increase sharply. By the end of 2021, the total revenue of these three factories has reached 13 billion USD, an increase of 35% compared to the previous year and an increase of 4.5 times since 2018.

In particular, Foxconn signed a lease contract for a plot of land of about 45 hectares located in Quang Chau Industrial Park, Bac Giang province for about 62.5 million USD. In May, this business continued to buy a 48ha land plot in Nghe An at WHA Industrial Park, with a total investment of phase 1 of 100 million USD.

Luxshare ICT just started construction on its $150 million electronic components manufacturing project in VSIP Industrial Park (Nghe An) earlier this year, expected to go into production from 2024. Goertek also plans to deploy a project new in Bac Ninh in 2023, specializing in manufacturing consumer electronics products, communication equipment, and optical instruments.

Vietnam is a very attractive alternative to China

Thus, a series of major Apple partners are preparing to spend up to billions of dollars to set up their factories in Vietnam. According to Apple’s latest list of suppliers, there are currently about 25 Apple suppliers present in Vietnam, with 27 production facilities located in 13 provinces.

In the context that the Vietnamese market is becoming more important to Apple, it is predicted that Vietnam could become the new “headquarters” of this Apple company. Not only mobile device details, at the end of 2022, a source from Nikkei also emphasized that “Apple will move its MacBook computer production line to Vietnam for the first time from mid-2023”.

One of the important reasons why Apple is paying attention to Vietnam is because since 2019, the company has had a strategy to diversify its production chain to reduce dependence on the Chinese market due to many potential risks. mainly political, in the context of the escalating conflict between the US and China.

According to experts, Vietnam is a very attractive alternative to China. Northern Vietnam has a number of advantages that few other locations can match. Much of this is due to its proximity to China and the ability of manufacturers to integrate the region into existing supply chains.

Another important reason is that production costs in Vietnam are lower than in other countries. In addition, Vietnam also has attractive tax policies for manufacturers, helping to reduce production costs and increase profits.

There is a large group of Vietnamese “apple fans”.

Above all, building a factory in Vietnam also helps Apple’s partners meet market needs. Vietnam is one of the largest consumer markets in Southeast Asia and has the largest group of “apple fans” in the region.

Signing a distribution agreement with a series of ICT agents in Vietnam, Apple since 2021 has shown its increased presence. In 2023, Apple officially expands the online Apple Store to the Vietnamese market.

Commenting on this, Mr. Nguyen Duc Tai – representative of Mobile World (MWG) and the TopZone chain (specializing in selling Apple products) – said: “For many years, Apple has not had the concept of advertising on television. on Youtube. Now you see it, and that’s a good sign, that they care about this market. When Apple focuses on a market, that market will grow and that will be good for consumers .”

An agent representative also recently “revealed” that Apple may elevate the Vietnamese market to the highest priority and open the first Apple Store when launching iPhone 16.

This is easy to understand when looking at the numbers from Counterpoint Research’s latest report, which revealed some notable information about the Vietnamese mobile market.

Despite being in five markets with sharp declines in smartphone sales, Apple’s iPhone products in Vietnam still recorded strong growth. Even, demand for iPhone 13 and 14 series products is very good in the first quarter of 2023.

Worth mentioning, Apple is the only major manufacturer in the top 6 to record positive growth in 5 Southeast Asian countries (including Vietnam) in the first quarter of 2023 with an increase of 18%. The remaining manufacturers all decreased, respectively 16% with Samsung, 10% with Oppo, 26% with Vivo, 13% with Xiaomi and 5% with Realme.

Previously, a report from market research firm IDC also affirmed that Apple is a rare bright spot in the Vietnamese smartphone market in 2022 as the only major manufacturer with positive growth.

After the online Apple Store, domestic users expect the company to open an official retail store (Apple Store) in Vietnam, similar to Singapore or Thailand. Domestic experts confirm that the company is continuously looking for and choosing a location to open this store.