Apple can’t break up with China, Wall Street Journal report argues

Workers assemble and perform quality control checks on MacBook Pro display enclosures at an Apple supplier facility in Shanghai. (credit: Apple Inc.)

A report in The Wall Street Journal published today provided new insights and analysis on Apple's heavy reliance on partners in China to manufacture its products.

The piece is timed with fluctuating stock for Apple and serious concerns about its ability to meet its goals and ship products to its millions of customers as efforts to contain the coronavirus debilitate the company's supply lines. Twice in about a year, Apple's profits and market value have suffered because of problems faced in China. First, it was the United States' trade war with the country. Now it's the health crisis.

Some Apple staffers, executives, and investors have in the past expressed concerns about the company's reliance on the region; generally, it's ideal business practice for a large multinational corporation to diversify and not become overly dependent on one market, region, or partner.