Apple will build a new U.S. manufacturing plant for consumer products at the Trump administration's request. The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on the 23rd (local time) that Apple plans to move part of its Mac mini desktop computer production facilities from Asia to the United States.
Citing Apple Chief Operating Officer Sabih Khan, the Wall Street Journal reported that "Apple will transfer part of its Mac mini production facilities operated in Asia to the United States." The WSJ said Apple is also looking at producing the high-end Mac Pro desktop in Austin, Texas.
According to the report, Apple, together with its manufacturing partner Foxconn of Taiwan, has built and is operating an artificial intelligence (AI) server plant in Houston, Texas, and decided to expand the business sites to lay the groundwork for Mac mini production. Accordingly, Apple and Foxconn plan within this year to convert a large warehouse on the Houston plant site into a 18,580-square-meter factory.
Foxconn, a major manufacturing partner of Apple, is assembling Apple's artificial intelligence (AI) servers in another building located in Houston.
Last year, Apple announced an investment plan worth $600 billion (about 866 trillion won) in line with the Trump administration's demand to build a domestic U.S. supply chain. The establishment of a Mac mini plant in the United States is part of that plan. According to research firm Consumer Intelligence Research Partners, the Mac mini accounts for less than 1% of Apple's total product sales volume.
Apple produces most of its products, such as the iPhone and iPad, in Asian countries including China, Vietnam and Thailand, and it is said there are still no plans to move production lines for the iPhone, its core product, to the United States. That is why there is criticism that Apple's plan to establish manufacturing plants in the United States is a showy move.
However, Khan, Apple's COO, explained that because the Mac mini is more popular than the Mac Pro, the transfer of Mac mini production is expected to proceed more smoothly for now.