Apple and Tesla, the representative technology companies in the United States, are showing contrasting moves.
Apple is moving out of China, such as reducing production in China, but Tesla is ‘all-in’ to China.
◇ Tesla opens large-scale battery factory in Shanghai
: Bloomberg News reported on the 9th (local time) that Tesla decided to build a large-scale battery factory in Shanghai, even as tensions between the two countries escalated day by day as the US-China competition for supremacy intensified.
The battery plant is scheduled to begin construction in the third quarter of this year and be completed in the second quarter of 2024. The factory is capable of producing 10,000 megapacks per year.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced this through his Twitter on the same day. “We plan to open a new megapack battery factory in Shanghai, China and supply it to our factory in California,” he said on his Twitter.
Musk is said to be visiting China this weekend for this purpose. It is known that the signing ceremony for the construction of the plant has already been held. It is known that Tesla’s senior vice president Tom Zhu and Shanghai Vice Mayor Wu Qing attended and signed the related contract.
Tesla says the Megapack batteries are intended to be huge batteries that help stabilize the energy grid, and that each device can store enough energy to power an average of 3,600 homes for an hour.
The existing auto plant in Shanghai produced 711,000 cars last year, accounting for 52% of Tesla’s global production.
Tesla’s investment came amid rising tensions between the US and China due to competition for supremacy, in contrast to Apple, which is trying to reduce its exposure to China.
◇ Apple steps out of China
: Apple is pursuing a departure from China, such as increasing production in India, after experiencing difficulties in managing Chinese factories due to strikes at factories in Zhengzhou, China last year.
Since the strike in Zhengzhou, Apple has been significantly ramping up production in India. In fact, iPhone exports from India in the last fiscal year more than doubled compared to the previous year.
Foxconn and Wistron of Taiwan, which have factories in India, said exports of iPhones made in India exceeded $2.5 billion for the fiscal year ending March 2023. This is more than twice as much as the previous year.
◇ Tesla all-in on China
: In contrast, Tesla is all-in on China.
This is because China is the largest market. Tesla is making all-out efforts to capture the Chinese market, including aggressive price cuts in China.
In an earnings announcement in January, Musk said, “China is the most competitive automobile market,” and said, “We plan to strengthen our targeting in China.”
He does not hide his affection for China, saying, “Chinese people work very hard” and “I have great respect for Chinese electric vehicle manufacturers even though they are competitors.”
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.