Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團) is facing a battle of talent in Vietnam as major suppliers to Apple Inc continue to shift some capacity from China to the Southeast Asian country amid prolonged tensions between Beijing and Washington.
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) chairman Young Liu (劉揚偉) said the company’s Chinese rivals in Vietnam have set up operations near its campuses to poach its employees.
Hon Hai is known globally as Foxconn Technology Group.
Photo: Fang Wei-jie, Taipei Times
“The move shouldn’t be condoned,” Liu told reporters in Taipei on Saturday, without naming any companies.
Three of Foxconn’s China-based competitors are now in Vietnam: Luxshare Precision Industry Co (立訊精密) and GoerTek Inc (歌爾聲學) make AirPods in the country, while BYD Co (比亞迪) is preparing to produce iPads.
The key Apple assembly partner employs about 60,000 people in Vietnam, the company’s largest manufacturing base outside of China, Liu said.
Liu said Foxconn plans to “significantly” increase its number of employees in Vietnam over the next one to two years, without providing a specific number.
During former US president Donald Trump’s administration, the US implemented various measures, including tariffs on certain products imported from China, in an attempt to reshape global supply chains.
US President Joe Biden is looking to reconfigure the China tariffs, but US officials have not made major changes so far.
While Foxconn relies on China for most of its production, the world’s largest contract electronics maker has had to make adjustments to mitigate risks from the trade dispute.
The Taiwanese company had planned to move some production of iPads and MacBooks to a new plant in the northern Vietnamese province of Bac Giang, Bloomberg News reported in 2020.
The site was originally slated to begin production last year, with the Vietnamese government saying the company could invest US$700 million that year.
It is unclear whether that site is now up and running, and Liu did not offer an update on the construction progress on Saturday.
Foxconn has been making electronics in Vietnam for several years, dating back to before the US trade dispute with China.
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