After establishing an operational outlet in Shenzhen, China, Apple’s “Asia Purchase and Original Equipment Manufacturing (OEM) Office” will establish a representative office in Shanghai soon, according to an Asia BizTech article.
Apple established the Asia OEM Office in Taiwan eight years ago. The company has stepped up its purchasing in Taiwan since last year with the aim of sharpening their global competitiveness and lowering manufacturing costs, according to the article. Following the step of its Taiwan production suppliers moving into China, Apple set up a purchasing office in Shenzhen.
So far in 2002, Apple’s contract manufacturers, such as Quanta, Compal and Inventec, have had their plants built in Shanghai. Now Apple plans to establish another purchasing office in Shanghai in order to move near to its production source. The company has cutback their employees more than once in the past year in order to curb its operational costs and is expected to increase its outsourced production accordingly, the article said.