Apple Moves Mac Pro Production to China: WSJ
Apple is shifting manufacturing of its new Mac Pro computer to China from the United States, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The company will use Quanta Computer Inc. to make the $6,000 desktop computer and is ramping up production at a factory near Shanghai, the Journal reported Friday, citing people familiar with the matter.
By producing the Mac Pro at Quanta’s facility, which is close to other Apple suppliers around Asia, it will allow Apple to take advantage of lower shipping costs than if it shipped components to the U.S., the Journal said.
The move comes at a time when the Trump administration has boosted tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese imports to 25% and has threatened to impose new levies on an additional $300 billion in Chinese imports.
“Like all of our products, the new Mac Pro is designed and engineered in California and includes components from several countries including the United States,” an Apple spokesman said. “Final assembly is only one part of the manufacturing process.”
Last week, Apple asked its major suppliers to assess the cost implications of moving 15%-30% of their production capacity from China to Southeast Asia as it prepares for a restructuring of its supply chain, according to a Nikkei Asian Review report.
China is a key market for Apple as well as a major production center for its devices. The company got nearly 18% of its total revenue from Greater China in the quarter ended March.
Apple has avoided major damage from the U.S. trade war with China, thanks in part to a White House charm offensive by Cook. But the recent round of tariffs proposed by the U.S. includes mobile phones, such as the iPhone, Apple’s most-important product that is made almost entirely in China. Laptops and tablets may also be encumbered with the 25% import levy.