Apple will start creating servers and building its own data centers

Nikkei Asia reported on negotiations between multiple major suppliers, including Apple, in Taipei, the capital of Taiwan. This has been reported in press releases from several tech events.

But we are not only talking about the capabilities of TSMC, whose chips will be used in many projects, but also about changes in the supply chain. In particular, many manufacturers will start exporting products to the Thai market. As noted, “Thailand also benefits from widespread changes in supply chains due to trade tensions between the US and China, as seen in foreign direct investment flows.”

In 2023, China is the top investor, accounting for 24% of total exports, led by electronics manufacturing and the automotive supply chain. According to Chinese government data, in the first nine months of 2024, shipments reached their highest level in a decade, driven by “units of US and Chinese companies in Singapore and Thailand, These latter countries are developing rapidly.

And now in Taiwan and mainly in Thailand, the deployment of additional capacities of Foxconn Taiwan, an iPhone assembler, will begin. But the company will make servers for Apple, which plans to create its own data centers for AI computing around the world. Apple has less experience building servers than HP and Google of the US and hopes to leverage the expertise of Foxconn, also the world's leading manufacturer of servers for AI data centers.

“The talks come as Apple begins rolling out Apple Intelligence, the artificial intelligence platform that has helped drive demand for the latest iPhone models,” the Nikkei Asia report said.