Supply Chain Research

Foxconn has been awarded a license by the Vietnamese government to invest $270 million in a new laptop / tablet computer plant. The new facility may be used to reshore some of its production of Apple’s Mac and iPad lines from China. The global laptop industry is still dominated by China which represented 80.2% of global exports in the 12 months to Sep. 30 while Vietnam represented just 2.4%. U.S. imports from Vietnam meanwhile have climbed 45.6% year over year in the three months to Nov. 30, including shipments linked to Compal – probably for Dell – and Samsung Electronics which accounte...