CEO Apple Tim Cook's purpose for his sudden visit to Vietnam

Clearly, Mr. Tim Cook's visit to Vietnam isn't just for enjoying egg coffee, eating sunflower seeds, and chatting with the two singer mothers and daughters, My Linh and My Anh.

Guess what? Mr. Tim Cook made a surprise trip to Vietnam on his private jet early in the morning on April 16! As soon as he got to Vietnam, he didn't waste any time and dived into the local scene, savoring some delicious egg coffee and taking a stroll around Hoan Kiem Lake. According to Apple's website, he's planning to stay for 2 days and meet with a bunch of talented programmers, students, and content creators. How cool is that?

Mr. Cook's trip to Vietnam took place right after the news that the global iPhone sales for the first 3 months of 2024 decreased by 10%, causing Apple to lose the number 1 position to Samsung, with a market share of 17.3% and 20.8%.

Tim Cook showed his love for Vietnam through 2 tweets on social media X. In the first tweet, he greeted Vietnam and thanked the warm welcome of the singer mother-daughter duo, My Linh and My Anh, during breakfast and egg coffee. He expressed his fondness for egg coffee.

In the second tweet, he praised the iconic beauty of Hoan Kiem Lake and the ingenuity of a content creator when using the Cinematic Mode on the iPhone to shoot videos. (The person Mr. Cook referred to is a reviewer from Schannel named Duy Tham, whose real name is Ngo Duc Duy).

The third tweet saw Mr. Cook praising Nirvana Studio for using a combination of iPhone, iPad, and Macbook to create unique images.

At first glance, it seems like Mr. Cook's visit to Vietnam was merely for chatting with some content creators and iOS app developers. But if that were truly the case, it would be quite a waste of time for a businessman whose time is as precious as gold and silver.

The underlying purpose of this visit, not hard to discern, is to seek a larger presence for Apple in Vietnam. Currently, Apple sees Vietnam as an ideal destination for its plans to reduce reliance on China, as well as a potential market for consuming products bearing the iconic apple logo.

"Vietnam is important to Apple not only because of the increasing number of product enthusiasts, but also because the company is seeking to diversify its supply chain outside of China to mitigate risks," said Brian Ma, Vice President of IDC's client devices research.

Since 2020, Apple has been feeling the "squeeze" in the Chinese market as the Trump administration sought to encircle Chinese technology companies, kicking off a trade war. Furthermore, the Covid pandemic has compounded Apple's woes in China, as successive lockdown orders disrupted manufacturing operations. The unrest among some workers at the iPhone production facility in Zhengzhou forced Apple to look to surrounding countries.

Currently, Apple's equipment manufacturing partners such as Foxconn, Luxshare, Compal, and GoerTek are all present or expanding their factories in Vietnam. It is estimated that these companies operate 32 factories, employing over 160,000 Vietnamese workers.

Vietnam and India are the two countries that Apple has chosen to establish manufacturing facilities to reduce dependence on China. While India is where about 1/7th of the company's iPhones are produced, Vietnam is an important location for manufacturing Macbooks, iPads, and Apple Watches. In December last year, Nikkei reported that Apple had shifted some crucial technical resources to Vietnam.

The JPMorgan report estimates that the production volume of iPads in Vietnam will account for 20% of the global volume, Macbooks will account for 5%, Apple Watch will account for 20%, and AirPods will account for 65%.

Moreover, Vietnamese consumers also highly favor Apple products. Apple's product market share in Vietnam has quietly risen to third place, following Oppo and Samsung.

In September last year, during Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh's visit to the United States, Apple's Vice President in charge of global policy told the Prime Minister that "Vietnam is a very important market and production area for Apple."

During this visit to Vietnam, Apple also issued a press release stating that they have spent nearly 400 billion VND (approximately 16 billion USD) since 2019 on education and clean water projects in Vietnam.

"From collaborating with local suppliers to supporting clean water projects and educational opportunities, we are committed to further enhancing our connections in Vietnam," declared Mr. Cook.