By Kate Yuan

(JW Insights) Aug 29 -- Apple’s COO Jeff Williams, the highest executive in charge of Apple's supply chain, visited China after a four-year gap recently. “Apple's supply chain is truly global, and our team will continuously evaluate where we source from,” he said in an exclusive interview with Chinese media outlet the Paper.

China is a major hub in Apple's supply chain, with the majority of Apple products being manufactured there. However, due to geopolitical factors and rising costs, multinational companies are rebalancing their supply chains, moving production to countries such as Vietnam and India.

“Tim Cook's iconic achievement in his Apple career was his careful maintenance of Apple's relationship with China. However, Apple's China model is facing its biggest pressure in recent years,” said Bloomberg journalist Mark Gurman.

Even though Tim Cook is easing tensions in China, Apple executives are also working to develop relationships with other countries to reduce their dependence on China, according to some industry insiders.

Gurman pointed out that Apple is covertly diversifying its supply chain to four countries: India, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Ireland. India serves as a production location for iPhones and accessories, Vietnam as an assembly site for AirPods and Macs, Malaysia for the production of certain Mac components, and Ireland for the supply of relatively easier-to-manufacture products like iMac.