Mubasher: Apple asked its key suppliers to assess the cost implications of moving 15% to 30% of their production capacity out of China to Southeast Asia, in preparation for a reshuffle of its supply chain, Nikkei Asian Review reported on Wednesday.

The tech giant’s request came on the back of a protracted trade dispute between the US and China.

Major iPhone assemblers, including Foxconn and Pegatron, key MacBook manufacturer Quanta Computer, iPad maker Compal Electronics and AirPods manufactuers Inventec, were asked to evaluate other options outside China, according to Nikkei

The destinations being eyed include Mexico, India, Vietnam, and Malaysia, the Japanese financial newspaper said, citing sources.

Apple will not back down on its decision, even a resolution to the row is reached between Washington and Beijing, having established that risks were too great and on the rise.

“With or without the final round of the $300 billion tariff, Apple is following the big trend [to diversify production]” for further flexibility, Nikkei quoted one executive familiar with matter.

The executive pointed to “adverse factors [of] a lower birth rate, higher labour costs and the risk of overly centralising its production in one country.”

Apple’s global success over the past two decades has been attributed to its production base in China.

China also has managed to rally hundreds of thousands of skilled labour at short notice, in response to rapidly growing orders as Apple business expanded.

In addition, “an extensive and complex ecosystem of components, logistics and talent has built up in and around Apple manufacturing sites,” the Nikkei report said.