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苹果公司首席执行官蒂姆-库克3月份在中国公开露面，讨论公司的运营情况，并宣布扩大一个价值数百万美元的农村教育项目。库克精心打造了苹果和中国之间的牢固关系，因为苹果在中国有庞大的制造和组装业务，在中国大陆有40家苹果商店，而且几乎20%的收入来自 “大中华区”。
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苹果正在努力使其业务多样化，特别是在印度、越南、马来西亚和爱尔兰，以减少对中国的依赖。该公司已经组建了 “老虎小组”，以解决其供应链中的弱点并改进预测。苹果公司还在探索如何减少对台湾的依赖，因为芯片制造巨头台积电有限公司在台湾生产许多半导体。
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苹果公司正在采取谨慎措施，以确保其多样化努力不会引起中国的报复，或中国的客户对美国设计的产品产生反感。鉴于越南和马来西亚制造业的现状，该公司还担心其在这两个国家保持高标准质量的能力。
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十多年来，苹果一直在尝试迁移其部分制造和组装业务，取得了不同程度的成功。2012年，它与富士康合作，在巴西生产一些iPhone，2013年，它开始在德克萨斯州生产Mac Pro。2017年，它开始在印度制造一些低端iPhone，从那时起，它一直在慢慢发展中国以外的业务。
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2022年，由于新冠疫情的蔓延，关闭了其合作伙伴的工厂，苹果在其最重要的发布会上遇到了延误和短缺。这凸显了全面中断的风险，并验证了该公司将其业务分散到各地的计划。它最雄心勃勃的计划是在印度，它正在与一些合作伙伴合作，生产iPhone、AirPods和苹果铅笔，以及Apple Watch、iPad和Mac的零部件。
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为了保持公司内部的平衡，苹果必须管理其采购团队以采购零部件，管理其制造运营团队以建立生产线，管理其产品开发团队以确保质量和功能。多样化和工程之间存在权衡，苹果公司必须驾驭这种微妙的平衡，以保持成功。
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苹果在2022年生产的2亿部iPhone中，有650多万部在印度生产，目标是2023年在那里生产1000万部。明年这一数字有可能超过1500万部，有些人认为，到2025年，苹果可能将多达25%的iPhone生产转移到印度。苹果也曾就将iPad和Apple Watch的生产转移到那里进行过早期讨论，但这不太可能在近期发生。
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苹果希望在印度制造更广泛的零部件和产品，并且已经在为iPhone 15生产零部件。他们在印度的质量控制方面遇到了一些问题，但仍在生产黑色和星光色的iPhone SE机型。苹果公司还在讨论建立印度生产金属和塑料部件、盖板玻璃和螺丝。
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苹果已经能够在中国建立一个庞大的供应商网络，现在希望在印度也这样做。这是首席执行官蒂姆-库克在这两个国家建立苹果产能项目的一部分。
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Tim Cook, CEO of Apple Inc., made a public appearance in China in March to discuss the company’s operations and announce the expansion of a multimillion-dollar rural education program. Cook has crafted a strong relationship between Apple and China, as Apple has a vast manufacturing and assembly operation in the country, 40 Apple stores in mainland China, and almost 20% of its revenue coming from the “Greater China” region.
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Apple is working to diversify its operations, particularly in India, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Ireland, to lessen reliance on China. The company has assembled “tiger teams” to address weaknesses in its supply chain and improve forecasts. Apple is also exploring ways to reduce its reliance on Taiwan, where chipmaking giant TSMC Ltd. makes many of its semiconductors.
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Apple is taking careful measures to ensure its diversification efforts do not cause retaliation from China, or customers in China to turn against US-designed products. The company is also concerned about its ability to maintain high standards of quality in Vietnam and Malaysia, given the current state of their manufacturing industries.
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Apple has been experimenting with relocating some of its manufacturing and assembly operations for over a decade, with varying degrees of success. In 2012 it partnered with Foxconn to make some iPhones in Brazil, and in 2013 it began making Mac Pros in Texas. In 2017, it began making some low-end iPhones in India, and since then it has been slowly developing its operations outside of China.
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In 2022, Apple encountered delays and shortages for its most important launches, due to Covid-19 shutting down its partner factories. This highlighted the risk of sweeping disruptions and validated the company’s plans to spread its operations out geographically. Its most ambitious plans are for India, where it is working with a number of partners to make iPhones, AirPods and Apple Pencils, as well as components for the Apple Watch, iPad and Mac.
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In order to maintain its balance within the company, Apple must manage its procurement team to source parts, its manufacturing operations team to set up production lines, and its product development teams to ensure quality and features. There are trade-offs between diversification and engineering, and Apple must navigate this delicate balance in order to remain successful.
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Apple has produced more than 6.5 million of the 200 million iPhones it made in 2022 in India, aiming to produce 10 million units there in 2023. It is possible that the number could exceed 15 million units next year, with some people believing that Apple could move as much as 25% of iPhone production to India by 2025. Apple has also had early discussions about moving iPad and Apple Watch production there, but this is unlikely to occur in the near future.
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Apple is looking to build a wider range of components and products in India, and is already producing components for the iPhone 15. They have had some problems with quality control in India, but are still making black and starlight-colored iPhone SE models. Apple is also discussing establishing Indian production of metal and plastic parts, cover glass and screws.
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Apple has been able to build a sprawling network of suppliers in China, and is now looking to do the same in India. This is part of CEO Tim Cook’s project of building Apple’s capacity in both countries.
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