Apple CEO Tim Cook visits Vietnam as US tech giant’s supply chain shift stirs unease in China

On Monday, Apple announced on its Vietnam website that it would “increase spending on suppliers” in the country, adding that such expenditure has reached nearly 400 trillion Vietnamese dong (US$16 billion) since 2019.

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Despite Cook’s reassurance, some Chinese internet users expressed their uneasiness about Apple shifting some of its manufacturing to countries such as Vietnam and India.

One Weibo user called “eddzccy” commented on a post about Cook’s Vietnam visit with a three-lemon emoji, which symbolises jealousy. Another user named “Renkongzhineng” sarcastically referred to Cook as a “master of marketing”.

Vietnam has emerged in recent years as one of the most important manufacturing hubs of Apple, with suppliers including Luxshare Precision Industry, Goertek and Foxconn Technology Group, formally known as Hon Hai Precision Industry, all having operations there.

Apple said in March that it planned to expand its research centre in Shanghai and open a new laboratory in Shenzhen later this year.