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US-China decoupling
TechTech War

US-China tech war: Apple puts China squarely at the apex of supplier list, bucking talk of decoupling and scrutiny of its vendors

  • Nearly one-third of the newly shortlisted companies are from the Chinese mainland, according to a Post analysis of Apple’s supplier list for 2017 and 2020
  • The increase in the number of mainland companies used by the iPhone maker highlights the importance of China in global hi-tech supply chains

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A Beijing Apple store’s iPhone display. China is an important market for Apple products, as well as being a key supply chain partner. Photo: Kyodo
Tracy QuandCelia Chen
Apple has added more suppliers from mainland China than anywhere else to its list of vendors over the past three years, defying deteriorating US-China relations during the Trump administration, talk of economic decoupling and increasing scrutiny of its component producers.
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Nearly one-third of the newly shortlisted companies are from the Chinese mainland, according to a South China Morning Post analysis of Apple’s supplier list for 2017 and 2020. Among the 52 new names added to the latest list, 15 are from the mainland, with several based in the southern tech hub of Shenzhen and others hailing from eastern Jiangsu province.

Suppliers from the US and Taiwan ranked second in terms of numbers, each with seven new shortlisted companies.

The increase in the number of mainland companies approved as Apple suppliers highlights the importance of China in global hi-tech supply chains, especially after the country was able to contain the coronavirus and reopen its domestic economy.

Apple CEO Tim Cook has actively cultivated government and business ties with China during his frequent visits to the mainland. Photo: AFP
Apple CEO Tim Cook has actively cultivated government and business ties with China during his frequent visits to the mainland. Photo: AFP
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The Post reported earlier that the Zhengzhou factory of Taiwan-based Foxconn Technology Group, Apple’s biggest subcontract assembler of iPhones with a work force of a quarter of a million, has been offering cash rewards to attract new workers to cope with busy production. That marks a sharp contrast with Foxconn’s iPhone factory in India, which had to cut output by 50 per cent because of Covid-10 infections among workers there, Reuters reported last month.

“China’s mature manufacturing industry still has its attractiveness despite the US-China tensions,” said Will Wong, a Singapore-based analyst at research firm IDC.

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