Vietnam is asking iPhone’s leading manufacturer Foxconn to cut power usage by 30%, according to a report from Reuters citing two people in the know. That said, Foxconn isn’t the only one Vietnamese officials are asking. The request is being sent to several manufacturers that caused over a billion dollars in lost output last summer. So, it’s a voluntary request and hasn’t impacted the production yet.
The original report from Reuters doesn’t mention the people who sent the requests to Foxconn to cut on power consumption. However, in March, a state-owned power distributor, Bac Giang Power Company (BGPC) said in a statement that it had requested industrial parks and authorities to work together to save electricity.
Whether this move will impact Apple’s upcoming products or everything will be in the same order, only time will tell. But the past incidents suggest that everything would still be on track, though Foxconn might have to ramp up or look for an alternate source of energy,
What should be taken into account, is that Vietnam had made a similar request to Foxconn and others during last year’s summer, when Apple shifted its production from China to Vietnam. Around the same, the country had also suffered a drought affecting hydroelectric power.
During May and June 2023, power shortages led to a production decline estimated at $1.4 billion. The government pledged to avoid similar power cuts and allegedly requested coal-fired power plants to postpone maintenance until after the hottest months. This move was expected as Foxconn is a major contributor to the homeland’s GDP. Later, Foxconn was said to be considering constructing its own generators.
In general, Vietnam is becoming a global tech manufacturing hub, especially for US-based tech majors, amid the ongoing US-China geopolitical conflicts. For Apple, as an example, Vietnam is a major manufacturing support as the former had increased the overall manufacturing from 25 to 35 with promises for further investments.