American technology firms Apple, Microsoft and Google have reportedly looked to move more production of their hardware products out of the world's second-largest economy especially after Withe U.S.-China trade war last year and the outbreak of the new coronavirus. But reducing reliance on China won't be easy. Google and Microsoft are accelerating their efforts to shift production of hardware to other parts of Asia, the Nikkei Asian Review reported last week. The problem for all these countries is that moving supply chains quickly will be a tough task and China will still have to play a major role. That might mean mitigating risk is a lot harder. Google has also asked a manufacturing partner in Thailand to prepare production lines for its so-called smart home products, such as voice assistant-enabled speakers, Nikkei said. Meanwhile, Microsoft is hoping to start production in Vietnam in the second quarter for its Surface line of notebooks and desktop PCs, it added.
