Thursday’s report from Bloomberg Businessweek that Chinese chips were installed in the hardware of companies like Apple and Amazon.com could have significant implications for tech supply chains.
Consider: Apple (ticker: AAPL) is a $1 trillion company, and its hardware supply chain amounts to another trillion or so in market cap. Those companies have about $1 trillion in assets listed on the books. Though it’s difficult to get precise numbers, Apple’s suppliers domiciled outside Southeast Asia probably own about $300 billion in assets there.
For instance, Intel (INTC) lists 15% of assets in “other locations” outside of the U.S., Europe, and Israel. Presumably, those assets are in Southeast Asia, but Intel’s filings don’t provide the details. If the security zeitgeist begins to require more technology production to be done in the U.S., the implied shift in capital spending by the region could be material.
The Emergency Election Sale is now live! Get 30% to 60% off our most popular products today!