Apple could get AirPods Pro 2 made in Vietnam: report

By Dat Nguyen May 25, 2022 | 01:12 am PT

A woman looks at the screen of her mobile phone in front of an Apple logo outside its store in Shanghai, China July 30, 2017. Photo by Reuters/Aly Song

Apple could make its wireless earphone, AirPods Pro 2, in Vietnam this year as it seeks to expand production outside China amid strict Covid-19 policies there, according to reports.

Supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo tweeted Tuesday that the new AirPods would be mass produced in Vietnam from the second half of this year.

"The shift in AirPods Pro 2 production can be attributed to the relatively uncomplicated supply chain and Vietnam’s better production environment (such as infrastructure and workforce) vs. most countries outside China."

But he said that since the product introduction process of the device is still on in China, it is not easy to establish a complete non-China production site.

Apple has told some of its contract manufacturers that it wants to boost production outside China, citing Beijing’s strict anti-Covid policy among other reasons, the Wall Street Journal reported last week.

India and Vietnam, already sites for a small portion of Apple’s global production, are among the countries getting a closer look from the company as alternatives to China, it said, citing people involved in the discussions.

Apple had been seeking to diversify away from China before Covid-19 broke out in early 2020, but the plans were complicated by the pandemic, the report said.

Current lockdowns in Shanghai and other cities as part of China’s anti-Covid policy have caused supply-chain bottlenecks for many western companies, it added.