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Online Apple store opens virtual doors in Vietnam

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Online Apple store opens virtual doors in Vietnam
iPhone, Mac, iPad, Apple Watch and accessories are all now available in Vietnam via an online Apple Store.
Image: Apple

Vietnam is the latest country to get an online Apple store to shop for iPhone, Mac and other products.

It’s the latest move in the company’s efforts to increase sales in Asia — Thursday’s opening comes a month after Apple opened its first retail stores in India.

Your next iPad could come from Vietnam

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iPad Air 5
COVID-19 lockdowns in China force Apple to diversify iPad production.
Photo: Apple

The lockdown in Shanghai and nearby regions, and China’s strict zero-COVID policy, have forced Apple to move some iPad production out of the country and to Vietnam for the first time.

The company already expects to take an $8 billion revenue hit in the ongoing quarter due to supply chain disruptions caused by the Chinese lockdowns.

AirPods manufacturers sleep in factory ‘bubbles’ to avoid COVID-19

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Apple has big plans for the AirPods lineup.
It's all part of the effort to contain COVID.
Photo: Omid Armin/Unsplash CC

In order to quell the spread of COVID-19, at least one Apple supplier set up coronavirus “bubbles” for employees on its production lines, essentially sealing off workers from the outside world.

According to a Tuesday report by Nikkei Asia, several factories in Vietnam — including one owned by AirPods manufacturer GoerTek — took this precautionary measure as COVID-19 cases ramp up in the country.

COVID-19 forces temporary closures for Apple factories in Vietnam

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Don’t let your opinion of Vietnam be stuck decades in the past.
Apple produces a growing number of products in Vietnam.
Photo: Cult of Mac/Marcus Nguyen/Pexels CC

The coronavirus pandemic continues to wreak havoc on Apple’s supply chain (as well as everywhere else), with two Apple suppliers ordered to temporarily shutter factories in Vietnam as a result of a surge of COVID cases in the region.

The companies in question, Foxconn and Luxshare Precision, operate plants in Vietnam’s northern region. The area has seen a big rise in cases, including two over the weekend at Luxshare’s plant in Van Trung Industrial Park.

Apple expanding iPhone, iPad, Mac manufacturing outside China

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Apple's relationship with Foxconn on the rocks
Tim Cook meeting a worker on the iPhone production line.
Photo: Apple

For years, China has been Apple’s biggest manufacturing hub for building its devices. But that’s now changing, with a report Wednesday claiming that Apple is “ramping up” production of iPhones, iPads, Macs, and other products in other parts of the world.

This is an attempt by Apple to diversify manufacturing beyond China, following trade tensions between the U.S. and China in recent years.