Apple announces Vietnam expansion, CEO Cook in town

Tech giant Apple announced plans to increase investments in manufacturing hub Vietnam as CEO Tim Cook began a two-day visit to the country on Monday.

The iPhone maker will expand spending on suppliers in Vietnam, according to a Monday statement, but did not detail the amount it would spend or priorities for the new investment.

“From cooperating with local suppliers, to supporting clean water projects and educational opportunities, we are committed to continuing to enhance connections in Vietnam,” Cook said in the statement.

The tech heavyweight noted that it has spent nearly VND400 trillion ($15.88 billion) since 2019 via supply chains in Vietnam, and more than doubled annual spending in the country during the same period.

Since it entered Vietnam a decade ago, Apple has helped generate more than 200,000 jobs.

Vietnam is rising as one of Apple’s most important manufacturing hubs, with suppliers like Luxshare, Foxconn, Compal, and GoerTek operating factories in the country.

"Vietnam's app economy continues to be a growth engine, with employment nearly tripling since 2017. Vietnam is now among the top five countries in the world for game production for phones," Cook added.

Cook is expected to meet programmers, students, content creators, and users of Apple products during his visit.

The U.S and Vietnam upgraded their relations to a “comprehensive strategic partnership” during President Joe Biden's visit to the country in September last year.

Vietnam is also a key manufacturing hub for Samsung, Apple's biggest competitor. Its four Vietnam factories accounted for 31.3% and 34% of Samsung Electronics’s global sales and post-tax profits in 2023, respectively.

Samsung, already the largest foreign investor in Vietnam, plans to invest an additional $1 billion in the Southeast Asian country annually, said Choi Joo Ho, CEO of the firm's Vietnam operations, in March. The Korean chaebol made an extra investment of $1.2 billion in 2023, lifting its tally in Vietnam to $22.4 billion.

In latest news, Taiwan-based Inventec, an Apple supplier, received the first land lots on early this month for a $200 million, 50-hectare project in Hanoi.

In March, Luxshare-ICT (Nghe An) Limited, a subsidiary of Chinese supplier of Apple Luxshare-ICT, said it was looking to recruit 1,500 people a month for the second phase of its project in Nghe An province. In November 2023, Luxshare-ICT (Vietnam) Limited received approval to raise registered capital in its Bac Giang province-based project by $330 million, increasing the total investment to $504 million.

Goertek Electronics Vietnam Co., Ltd., a major supplier to Samsung and Apple, in March said it planned to start operating a $280 million investment project in the northern province of Bac Ninh in the second quarter of this year.