Apple: Accelerating shift of production base, all iPhones for US to be assembled in India
Last year, Apple indicated its intention to increase the proportion of iPhones produced in India to 25% of the world total by 2028, and last month announced that "all iPhones shipped to the US will be assembled in India by 2026." Currently, China accounts for about 80% of the world's iPhone production, but as the US-China trade friction intensifies, India has been singled out as a new production base.
For Apple products other than iPhones, Vietnam is becoming an important production country. Apple recently released the list of products manufactured in Vietnam for the first time and mentioned the production outlook for the end of 2025 for tablet devices such as iPads, laptops (PCs) such as MacBooks, smartwatches such as Apple Watches, and wireless earphones such as AirPods. It predicted that Vietnam's global production ratio would reach 20% for iPads and Apple Watches, 5% for MacBooks, and up to 65% for AirPods.
When the company's first quarter 2025 financial results were announced last month, CEO Tim Cook explained that "the majority of iPhones sold in the United States are made in India, while other devices are primarily sourced from Vietnam" This makes it clear that India and Vietnam will continue to function as new production hubs to replace China in the future.
Vietnam: Foodservice market is growing rapidly, fast food chains accelerate opening
The Vietnamese foodservice market is estimated to have sales of $22.23 billion (approximately 3.2 trillion yen) in 2024 and is expected to expand to $26.89 billion in 2030 (average annual growth rate of 12.34%). The growth is being driven by fast food chains led by foreign capital, which continue to open stores at a rapid pace. The background to this is the growing need for quick and affordable meals as the middle class grows. Let's take a look at the current situation of fast food chains in Vietnam and it’s players.
According to the latest report by research company Q&ME, the total number of stores of the 12 major chains will be 1,022 stores as of the end of 2024, up 12% from the previous year. By brand, Korean Lotteria had the most stores with 222 stores. This was followed by Philippine’s Jollibee (213 stores), American KFC (172 stores), American Pizza Hut (118 stores), and Thai The Pizza Company (74 stores). McDonald's had surprisingly few stores, with 37 stores.
Among them, Jollibee Foods, which operates Jollibee, has made remarkable progress in Vietnam's food service industry. In addition to chasing Lotteria, the leader in fast food restaurants, it is also focusing on expanding the business of Hi Runs Coffee, the largest local coffee shop, which it acquired in 2012 (850 stores in Vietnam as of the end of 2024). Jollibee Foods sees Vietnam as an important market and is considering listing Hi-Runs Coffee on the Vietnam Stock Exchange. As evidenced by the proactive stance of foreign companies, there seems to be a lot of room for growth in the local foodservice market.
ASEAN: Business sentiment worsens across the region; Thailand's April Industries Sentiment Index hits lowest level in six months
While the negotiations over Trump tariffs have been a hot topic in Europe and China, the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) is lagging and indices showing business sentiment are worsening across the board.
First, in Thailand, the Industries Sentiment Index (over 100 is favorable) fell 1.9 points from the previous month to 89.9 in April, the lowest level since October last year. In Singapore, the National Business Survey Report for the first quarter of this year released by an economic organization showed that the percentage of companies that responded that the economy would "worsen" over the next 12 months had jumped to 40%, a significant increase from 22% in the previous report (fourth quarter of last year). Furthermore, in Malaysia, the business confidence index (CI) for the second quarter of this year was only at +2.0, down 1.2 points from 3.2 in the previous quarter (a larger positive value indicates that more companies are predicting "improvement in business conditions," while a larger negative value indicates that more companies are predicting "worsening business conditions"). Although it remains in positive territory, optimism has declined for two consecutive quarters.
In both cases, this is due to rising costs associated with rising prices, as well as concerns about the US tariff policy. It is likely that we will need to wait for the policy's direction to become clear at the very least for business confidence in the ASEAN region to improve.