Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit.
The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go.
Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported.
Photo: AFP
The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China.
Images on VnExpress showed Cook taking a walk by Hoan Kiem Lake in downtown Hanoi.
“Hello Vietnam. I am so excited to be here today. I can’t wait to see all the developers and creators in the community,” Cook said in a video on VnExpress.
Apple said that it has spent nearly 400 trillion dong (US$16 billion) since 2019 through its local supply chain, and has more than doubled its annual spending to Vietnam over the same period.
“From cooperating with local suppliers, to supporting clean water projects and educational opportunities, we are committed to continuing to strengthen connections in Vietnam,” Cook said in the statement.
Cook’s visit to Vietnam comes as Apple’s smartphone shipments dropped 9.6 percent year-on-year to 50.1 million units in the first quarter, hurt by intensifying competition from Android smartphone makers aiming for the top spot and the sluggish sales in China, data released on Sunday by research firm International Data Corp (IDC) showed.
The drop is the steepest for the US tech giant since COVID-19 lockdowns snarled supply chains in 2022, IDC said, adding that it is significant given that the overall mobile market registered its best growth in years.
Global smartphone makers shipped 289.4 million handsets in the January-to-March period, a 7.8 percent increase from the trough a year ago, when many manufacturers were grappling with a surfeit of unsold devices.
“While Apple has been super resilient and seen a lot of growth in shipments and share over the last few years, it will be a challenge for it to maintain the pace of growth and the peak share it saw in 2023. As the market recovers further in 2024, IDC expects Android to grow much faster than Apple,” IDC research director Nabila Popal said.
Samsung Electronics Co regained the top spot in the first quarter, while budget-focused Transsion Holdings Co (傳音控股) increased shipments by 85 percent and Xiaomi Corp (小米) bounced back to close the gap on second-placed Apple.
Additional reporting by Bloomberg
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday said that its research institute has launched its first advanced artificial intelligence (AI) large language model (LLM) using traditional Chinese, with technology assistance from Nvidia Corp. Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), said the LLM, FoxBrain, is expected to improve its data analysis capabilities for smart manufacturing, and electric vehicle and smart city development. An LLM is a type of AI trained on vast amounts of text data and uses deep learning techniques, particularly neural networks, to process and generate language. They are essential for building and improving AI-powered servers. Nvidia provided assistance
DOMESTIC SUPPLY: The probe comes as Donald Trump has called for the repeal of the US$52.7 billion CHIPS and Science Act, which the US Congress passed in 2022 The Office of the US Trade Representative is to hold a hearing tomorrow into older Chinese-made “legacy” semiconductors that could heap more US tariffs on chips from China that power everyday goods from cars to washing machines to telecoms equipment. The probe, which began during former US president Joe Biden’s tenure in December last year, aims to protect US and other semiconductor producers from China’s massive state-driven buildup of domestic chip supply. A 50 percent US tariff on Chinese semiconductors began on Jan. 1. Legacy chips use older manufacturing processes introduced more than a decade ago and are often far simpler than
STILL HOPEFUL: Delayed payment of NT$5.35 billion from an Indian server client sent its earnings plunging last year, but the firm expects a gradual pickup ahead Asustek Computer Inc (華碩), the world’s No. 5 PC vendor, yesterday reported an 87 percent slump in net profit for last year, dragged by a massive overdue payment from an Indian cloud service provider. The Indian customer has delayed payment totaling NT$5.35 billion (US$162.7 million), Asustek chief financial officer Nick Wu (吳長榮) told an online earnings conference. Asustek shipped servers to India between April and June last year. The customer told Asustek that it is launching multiple fundraising projects and expected to repay the debt in the short term, Wu said. The Indian customer accounted for less than 10 percent to Asustek’s
Gasoline and diesel prices this week are to decrease NT$0.5 and NT$1 per liter respectively as international crude prices continued to fall last week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) said yesterday. Effective today, gasoline prices at CPC and Formosa stations are to decrease to NT$29.2, NT$30.7 and NT$32.7 per liter for 92, 95 and 98-octane unleaded gasoline respectively, while premium diesel is to cost NT$27.9 per liter at CPC stations and NT$27.7 at Formosa pumps, the companies said in separate statements. Global crude oil prices dropped last week after the eight OPEC+ members said they would
RSS