iPhone supplier Pegatron focuses on expanding production out of China to Vietnam, India, and other countries

You may have heard that at the beginning of this year, and more specifically, in April, there were some pandemic-related lockdowns in several China cities. The thing is, many manufacturers of parts and phone assemblers have factories located in impacted regions. iPhone supplier Pegatron is also among them, and now Reuters reports the company is putting an emphasis on expanding its factories outside China.

iPhone supplier Pegatron looking to expand factories outside of China

Taiwanese company Pegatron makes around 20 to 30% of iPhones. Recent lockdowns in China had the company look more seriously into expanding to other countries.

Back in April of this year, Pegatron was forced to suspend operations at two key factories in China: the one in Shanghai and the one in Kunshan. The situation impacted production and delivery, and even though the lockdown restrictions have since been lifted, the company is still having some issues.

Reportedly, Pegatron is facing shortages of workers (the situation was made worse because of the restrictions too). President of Pegatron Liao Syh-jang underlined that the company faced lockdown-related controls for two months, and that such a situation couldn't have been assessed in advance. Now, Pegatron is looking to expand in Vietnam, India, Indonesia, and Mexico, aiming to solve the shortage of workers and the gap between peak and low seasons.

Chairman T.H. Tung also said that recruiting in China has become harder over the past seven or eight years. However, he doesn't predict gloomy future. Tung stated the rest of 2022 should be better for the company as the pandemic is easing and China is removing restrictions.

Pegatron is not the only company that's optimistic for the remaining half of the year. Foxconn, another iPhone assembler, also stated that there should be a more stable supply in the second half of 2022.

Recently, there were reports that two models from the upcoming iPhone 14 series were running a bit late in terms of their production schedule (the iPhone 14 Max and Pro Max). The issue there was related to panel shipments that were reportedly delayed.

More companies looking into having factories at more places around the world is, for sure, a win for the tech industry. First off, production delays would be harder to come by, and thus, products should have more stock. Yes, this means customers won't have to wait for longer shipping dates. And let's not forget that any delay leads to companies presumably losing a significant sum of money. Here's to hoping that the industry as a whole has learned its lessons from the past two years and will work towards more flexibility in the future.