After China’s squeeze, Apple now turns to Japan for rare-earth magnet supply

In order to get over the Chinese government’s squeeze on their supplies of rare-earth magnets to Apple, the company’s Telangana factory is procuring it from Japan now for wireless earbuds. This squeeze had forced the company to close down the plant, which is run by Foxconn to assemble its AirPods, for two weeks till June-end. The quick action by Apple Inc has helped the company to restart production of AirPods at the factory from the beginning of July.

In order to ensure continuity in production, the company told the government that they are looking at other sources to procure the magnets, which also include Uzbekistan.

The earbuds manufactured by Apple contain neodymium and dysprosium, among other rare earth metals. Currently, the AirPods are only for exports, mainly to the US and Europe.

Additionally, the company has also informed the government that this move could increase the cost of producing the AirPods in India as compared to China. Sources further stated that this could thereby make them globally uncompetitive, especially because the focus is on exports.

The company was forced to close the factory for two weeks after facing serious supply issues for magnets in June. As a part of Apple’s broader strategy to diversify manufacturing from China, Foxconn began making AirPods at the India plant in April last year.