- The Apple CEO has arrived in Hanoi, Vietnam to meet with Apple suppliers and content creators.
- The company has also announced plans to increase spending on suppliers in the country.
- Vietnamese manufacturing has been important for Apple as it moves away from dependence on China.
Tim Cook has arrived in Hanoi, Vietnam, to start a two-day trip to one of Apple's top manufacturing hubs.
During his visit, he's set to meet with content creators, app developers, and students to learn about how they use Apple products, according to local media.
Apple also plans to boost its ties with local suppliers during the trip as well as help fund clean water projects and education opportunities, local newspaper VietnamNet wrote.
In a post on X, the Apple CEO shared a photo of himself drinking egg coffee with two Vietnamese musicians. In another post, he shared his visit to a workshop where creators were using Apple products to create and share their artwork.
Apple also announced plans to increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam.
Since 2019, the company has spent nearly 400 trillion Vietnamese dong ($16 billion) through its supply chains in Vietnam and has more than doubled its annual spending in the country over the same period, the company said in a statement on its Vietnamese website.
The statement added that Apple supports the jobs of 200,000 people in Vietnam through direct employment, via suppliers, and as app developers.
In 2020, major Apple supplier Foxconn moved its iPad and MacBook assembly to Vietnam from China at the request of Apple as it attempted to minimize the impacts of US-China trade tensions.
A couple of years later, Foxconn faced issues with Chinese smartphone makers trying to poach their talent in Vietnam, attracting them with higher salaries.
Apple has faced a recent blow as iPhone shipments fell nearly 10% in the first quarter of 2024, as global smartphone shipments increased.