AirPods maker forced to speed up exit from China amid tensions between Beijing and US: report

China’s Apple AirPods maker is reportedly facing pressure from US tech companies to find new manufacturing sites outside the country amid growing tensions between Beijing and Washington.

A GoerTek executive who lost his AirPods Pro contract but still makes regular AirPods said he was recently harassed by just one issue from US companies.

– When can you leave? GoerTek Vice Chairman Kazuyoshi Yoshinaga told Bloomberg on Tuesday.

GoerTek has invested $280 million in a new plant in Vietnam and is also considering expanding to India, added Yoshinaga, who oversees operations at the company’s Hanoi headquarters.

“Since last month, so many people from the client side visit us almost every day,” Yoshinaga told Bloomberg.

US customers are seeking to diversify supplies outside of China amid a growing gap between the world’s two largest economies.

The recent outbreak around a supposedly Chinese spy balloon that was drifting over US airspace has only heightened national security concerns.

Apple is keeping its diversification plans outside of China under wraps, in part because the tech giant insists on keeping its global supply chain private.

Apple’s iPhone production was severely hampered last year after protests erupted at its main factory in the Chinese city of Zhengzhou due to the COVID lockdown.

GoerTek isn’t the only Apple supplier looking to get out.

Behind the scenes, nine of Apple’s 10 most important suppliers may be preparing large-scale capacity moves to countries like India, according to Bloomberg.

Bloomberg Intelligence estimates that it could take eight years to bring only 10% of Apple’s capacity outside of China.

Most Chinese tech makers are under the same pressure as GoerTek.

“I would say that currently 90% of them are looking at it,” said the GoerTek executive.

“These are the decisions of branded companies.”