(Yicai Global) Dec. 8 -- Apple has started to step up sourcing from the US, India, Vietnam and other places after production was disrupted at its biggest assembly facility in China due to an outbreak of Covid-19. However, China remains the US tech giant’s most important manufacturing base and this position will not change any time soon, several analysts told Yicai Global.

Apple is shifting about 5 percent of iPhone 14 production to India starting from the end of this year, according to US investment bank JP Morgan. Up to a quarter of its iPhones will be produced in India by 2025, as well as about 25 percent of other Apple products, including Mac PCs, iPads and Apple Watches.

And Chinese Apple suppliers Hong Hai Precision Industry, also known as Foxconn, and Luxshare Precision Industry have started trial production of the Apple Watch and MacBook at their plants in Vietnam, which is the first time that these products are being assembled outside China.

However, analysts believe that a decentralized supply chain is a logical approach and there is no need to worry too much about Apple's supply chain shift.

China is still the country with the most complete and efficient supply chains, Guo Zijiao, an analyst at UK market research firm Omdia, told Yicai Global. China makes a considerable share of Apple’s parts and no other place in the world can take on such a large-scale shift quickly.

The supply chain shift will take up to a decade to complete and Apple still has to consider its huge market in China, said Peng Luping, an analyst at Singaporean market research firm Canalys.

The problem started with an outbreak of Covid-19 last month at Foxconn’s facility in Zhengzhou, central Henan province, which makes more than 70 percent of the world’s iPhones.

And the disruption is badly affecting Apple's Christmas sales. The California-based firm was forced to warn customers that they would experience longer wait times for the iPhone Pro and iPhone Pro Max as the Foxconn facility was operating at ‘significantly reduced capacity.’

Foxconn's revenue plunged 29 percent in November from the month before to USD18 billion, according to its latest earning report. It is the first time in 12 years that the contract manufacturer has logged a loss in November, which is normally peak season.

If Apple's supply chain problems linger until December, shipments could sink by 12 percent, or 10 million units, this quarter, according to Singapore’s KGI Securities

Editors: Shi Yi, Kim Taylor