Apple reportedly shifts AirPods Pro lineup to Vietnam as first product leaked in photo
	Nikkei: Apple ramps up AirPods production in Vietnam amid COVID-19

An AirPod Pro case with "Assembled in Vietnam" message. Photo by VnExpress/Nguyen Huy.

The company has announced on its official fanpage that it is recruiting workers for factories in the Van Trung Industrial Park in Viet Yen District, Bac Giang Province. This is the second Luxshare ICT factory in Bac Giang, the other one located in the Quang Chau Industrial Park.

According to the job posting, the factory is hiring thousands of workers in two recruiting rounds from June 11-19. Unnamed company sources said the new employees will produce charging cables and headphones.

According to some people recruited recently by Luxshare ICT, they are being trained to assemble wireless headphones and smart watches. The products they assemble "look like Airpods and Apple Watches," they’ve said.

Luxshare ICT workers are promised monthly incomes of between VND9-14 million ($385-599), which includes a basic salary of VND4.8 million ($205.3) and allowances for housing, meals and overtime. According to workers already hired, they get about VND10 million ($427.6) per month on average.

Luxshare ICT is one of the main partners assembling Apple's Airpods wireless headphones, besides Goertek and Inventec. The company has been recruiting workers and engineers since early this year, when its factory in China was shut down due to the Covid-19 outbreak.

The Nikkei Asian Review had previously reported that the factories in Vietnam will produce about 3-4 million Airpods in the second quarter. Luxshare ICT is one of the main partners in charge of assembling this product.

Airpods have been assembled in Vietnam for some time. On Apple product forums around the world, many Airpods Pro buyers have spotted the words 'Assembled in Vietnam' since mid-May.

It appears that Apple has shifted part of its production from China to Vietnam, as Vietnam only used to assemble AirPods and Lightning cables, while the AirPod Pro was exclusively made in China.

In the past few months Apple has listed many job vacancies in Vietnam on LinkedIn. This has lent credence to reports that Apple could increase manufacturing in Vietnam.

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