Apple adds 12 more mainland firms to its supplier list

Workers remove the blocks around an Apple store on Fifth Avenue during the Phase one reopening in New York, the United States, June 12, 2020. (Xinhua/Wang Ying)

US tech heavyweight Apple Inc added 12 more Chinese mainland enterprises to its supplier list, according to the company's latest annual supplier responsibility report for 2021 focusing on the company's response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The 12 new suppliers, including Nanping Aluminum, Giga Device, Everwin Precision, Tianma Microelectronics and Jiangsu Gian Technology, are mainly focused on microchips and precise instruments.

Notably, although Ofilm Group, a high-technology manufacturing and assembly company, was still on the 2020 list, it was removed from the Apple supplier list in 2021, according to a report by Economic Information Daily.

The latest supplier list report reflects Apple's response to the COVID-19 pandemic, with Sabih Khan, senior vice-president of Apple Operations, writing a letter at the beginning of the report.

"No year challenged us like this one, and no year taught us more. A pandemic changed everything about how we live and work, and most importantly, reinforced just how essential it is to put people's health first in everything we do," he wrote in the letter.

The Chinese mainland's quick recovery from the pandemic, as well as its stable supply chain, resulted in it having the majority of Apple suppliers, said analysts and experts.

As the "June 18th" shopping spree, an online shopping festival in the middle of the year, has kicked off at the beginning of the month, Apple has conquered the presales list on e-commerce platforms such as Tmall and JD, the report said, adding that the company is expected to release its latest iPhone 13 series in mid-September.

According to China Securities, the iPhone 13 will continue the good sales performance in the Apple series, and also boost the performance of the upstream consumer electronics industry chain.

Analysts at China Galaxy Securities also believe that, driven by the substantial growth of Apple's sales and the launch of new products, leading companies in Apple's industrial chain will still maintain good growth, the report said.