Apple will ‘look at’ manufacturing in Indonesia, CEO Cook says, as China diversification push continues

Technology

In this article

Apple CEO Tim Cook gestures as he arrives for a meeting with Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo at the Merdeka Palace in Jakarta on April 17, 2024.
Bay Ismoyo | AFP | Getty Images

Apple CEO Tim Cook said the company will “look at” manufacturing in Indonesia, following a meeting with the country’s President Joko Widodo, at a time when the iPhone giant continues to diversify its supply chain away from China.

“We talked about the president’s desire to see manufacturing in the country and it’s something that we will look at,” Cook told reporters after the meeting.

“I think the investment ability in Indonesia is endless. I think that there’s a lot of great places to invest. And we’re investing. We believe in the country.”

Over the past three years, Apple has been accelerating its push to diversify its manufacturing base beyond China after the Covid-19 pandemic exposed the Cupertino giant’s reliance on the world’s second-largest economy.

Covid disrupted operations and production at Apple’s main iPhone factory in China, operated by its assembly partner Foxconn.

Apple has since sought to broaden its base of manufacturing.

Vietnam has been a key beneficiary, becoming one of Apple’s biggest manufacturing hubs outside of China. Products such as the MacBook, iPad and Apple Watch are being manufactured there. Cook was in Vietnam earlier this week.

Apple has also ramped up its manufacturing in India.

Apple now makes around 1 in 7, or 14%, of its iPhones in India, twice the amount it produced there last year, according to a report from Bloomberg.

Get a weekly round up of the top tech stories from around the world in your inbox every Friday.

Subscribe

Articles You May Like

Collins extends run in Rome with Sabalenka next
Ukraine launches ‘co-ordinated strikes’ against glide bomb Russian airbase – military source
Oil little changed after Iran’s president dies in helicopter crash
Murray ‘feels great’, ‘hungry’ for big Game 7
Parties draw battle lines on tax – but weary public will make ultimate judgement call