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Comment by tablespoon | Hacker News Reader

> they really are keen on annoying investors aren't they. i wonder for how long tencent and the other conglomerates will obey these orders

They will obey as long as the state has power, which will be for the far foreseeable future.

The Chinese government has been smart enhance its power by keeping its domestic businesses in a strictly subordinate position and creating an environment were foreign businesses cooperate because dependence is the best business decision (e.g. Apple has no "plan B," it's China all the way for them).

And it might work out for them, especially if foreign nations continue to complacently indulge in free market Kool-Aid.

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> Apple has no "plan B," it's China all the way for them

I know many people who work, or worked for Apple on the hardware side.

I assure you, Apple has "plan B," and it been trying executing on it relentlessly for the last 2 years — just without any success.

Vietnam's total electronics industry output is like a single district in Dongguan. The supply chain is very, very immature there, despite it already towering above any other place in developing Asia, but China.

If what my buddies tell me of Apple's internal assesment of countries is correct, no other countries are even close to a 2nd place alternative on that, except for Taiwan, which is their "plan C" — a sure to work, but expensive option if everything else fails.

> I assure you, Apple has "plan B," and it been trying executing on it relentlessly for the last 2 years — just without any success.

Can you share any details about that?

> If what my buddies tell me of Apple's internal assesment of countries is correct, no other countries are even close to a 2nd place alternative on that, except for Taiwan, which is their "plan C" — a sure to work, but expensive option if everything else fails.

That's actually kind of what I meant by "there's no plan B." They may be able to formulate other plans (B, C, D, etc.) and even spend a little money on them, but Western business-thinking won't let them actually deviate from plan A.

One of China's advantages is that the West puts business in the driver's seat in a lot of situations, but business is short-sighted, selfish, and geopolitically naive, so it is exploitable and controllable with the right methods.

> Can you share any details about that?

Well, I heard story first hand. It's not a secret to anybody in the Industry too.

Apple been quietly trying to invite its part makers to setup factories in Vietnam, sometimes quite coercively.

Samsung stopped mobile phone production in China since 2019. They are heavily in Vietnam.

Apple is just doing something wrong is all.

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