两条新闻，苹果、台积电在东南亚将有新的投资动作

本月的18号和19号，两条关于Apple的新闻，让我如鲠在喉。

其中第一条是：

Apple CEO Tim Cook Met With Prime Minister of Vietnam to Discuss Manufacturing

苹果CEO就生产会晤越南总理，讨论产能问题

新闻原稿：

Apple CEO Tim Cook this week met with Vietnam Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh at the Apple Park campus in Cupertino, California, where the two reportedly discussed trade, investment, and finance.

According to Vietnamese news site SGGP (via iMore), Chinh said that the Vietnamese Government wants to create a “fair, transparent, and market-based business environment” to enable U.S. firms and investors to gain ground in Vietnam.

Vietnam has 31 companies that employ 160,000 workers that are producing and assembling electronic parts and equipment for Apple products, and Chinh asked Cook to step up Apple’s business activities in Vietnam.

Cook in turn thanked Vietnam for creating a “favorable business environment for Apple’s operations,” and he told Chinh that Apple does indeed want to extend its supply chain in the country.

Over the course of the past couple years, reports have suggested that Apple is shifting more of its production to countries like Vietnam and India in order to diversify its supply chain and manufacture more products outside of China. Apple has started assembling some AirPods Pro, iPads, and HomePod mini devices in Vietnam.

Apple supplier Foxconn in January 2021 was granted a license to create a $270 million plant in Vietnam after Apple asked the company to move some iPad and MacBook assembly from China to Vietnam.

新闻出处：https://www.macrumors.com/2022/05/18/apple-tim-cook-vietnam-prime-minister/

个人对上文的大致翻译如下：

本周，苹果CEO库克在加州库比蒂诺的总部大楼与越南总理范明政会晤，双方主要就贸易、投资、金融等问题进行了讨论。

据越南新闻网站SGGP的网站报道，越南方面希望创建一个平等透明的视窗环境，以便于促成美国公司及其投资者在越南的进一步投资。

目前越南已有31家公司，近16万工人在为苹果提供其所需要的元器件，范明政希望库克就苹果及其相关产业链在越南的投资能早日提上日程。

库克则回应道：正有此意。

……

第二条新闻是：

Apple Chip Supplier TSMC Looking to Build Plant in Singapore to Tackle Shortages

芯片供应商台积电希望在新加坡投资建厂以解决产能不足的问题

原文如下：

Apple chip supplier TSMC is exploring the potential of building a new factory in Singapore to help address the global chip shortage, the Wall Street Journal reports.

TSMC is Apple’s sole chip supplier and is responsible for fabricating all of the company’s custom silicon chips, such as the A15 Bionic and the M1. While Apple’s chip orders have been prioritized over many other companies, limiting the impact of shortages on Apple customers, TSMC has still suffered from global supply chain issues as the world’s biggest contract chip maker.

The plans to build a new multi-billion dollar factory in Singapore are still under consideration. According to individuals said to be familiar with the matter, the government of Singapore may help to fund construction of the plant.

The proposed production lines would manufacture chips with seven- to 28-nanometer fabrication processes, which are older production technologies. While Apple’s latest chips are manufactured with TSMC’s five-nanometer process and therefore could not be manufactured at the new plant in Singapore, the expansion could free up production capacity at other factories where Apple’s chips can be manufactured and help to relieve global shortages.

Beyond the plans for a new plant in Singapore, TSMC is also building a $12 billion factory in Arizona to manufacture five-nanometer chips. TSMC’s main factories are located in Taiwan, but it already operates a factory in Camas, Washington, as well as design centers in Austin, Texas and San Jose, California, meaning that the Arizona facility will be its second manufacturing site in the United States. TSMC is also building a new factory in Japan with help from the Japanese government and investment by Sony.