Apple announced Wednesday (May 24) that it has signed a “multi-billion dollar” multi-year deal with US semiconductor maker Broadcom as the iPhone maker tries to diversify its suppliers outside of China. Broadcom will notably design and build components that are used to capture 5G, the fifth generation of mobile telephony. Production will take place at various US sites, including Broadcom’s plant in Fort Collins, Colorado.
“All of Apple’s products depend on technology developed and built here in the United States, and we will continue to invest in the American economy because we believe steadfastly in America’s future,” the boss said. of Apple, Tim Cook, quoted in a press release. The company says the announcement is part of Apple’s 2021 commitments to invest $430 billion in the US economy over five years, from suppliers to spending on IT servers.
The world’s largest company by market value is looking to diversify its business away from China, on which it is highly dependent for its supply chain. Strict policies to combat the Covid epidemic last year slowed production and the current diplomatic tensions with the United States, which controls exports of high-tech components, are not helping matters.
Tim Cook assured that Apple enjoys a “symbiotic” relationship with China during a March visit to Beijing to attend a state-sponsored event with leading figures from the business sector. But he also went to India in the spring to inaugurate one of the brand’s first two stores in the world’s most populous country. Last September, the Californian group said it would manufacture its latest iPhone 14 in India, and Foxconn, the Taiwanese technology giant and main iPhone assembler, has just bought a huge piece of land in the suburbs of Bangalore, Silicon Valley Indian.
In March, Apple also announced that it planned to invest one billion euros over the next few years on its Munich site, dedicated to the development of electronic chips. This expansion in Germany is part of its strategy to increasingly develop the chips used in its smartphones, computers, tablets and other connected devices.
A year ago, the Cupertino company presented the M2 chip, a new home-made electronic chip. At the end of 2020, it had launched a new line of laptops equipped with its own chip, the M1, instead of those of Intel, marking the start of a two-year transition.
