Apple will relocate a portion of its Mac Mini desktop manufacturing from Asia to the United States, with assembly scheduled to begin later this year at a Foxconn facility in north Houston, the company has said. The decision represents the latest U.S. manufacturing initiative from the iPhone maker following a commitment announced last August to invest $600 billion domestically over the coming four years.
Apple's chief operating officer, Sabih Khan, said production of the Mac Mini will continue in Asia as the new Houston assembly line ramps up, and that the U.S. facility will serve local demand while the existing Asian output remains in place. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The move comes against a backdrop of prior trade pressure. In May, U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to impose a 25% tariff on products manufactured overseas, after previously exempting smartphones, computers and other electronics from certain rounds of tariffs on Chinese imports. Apple executives have cited changing trade dynamics when discussing manufacturing strategy, and the company has signaled greater confidence in projecting long-term demand for the Mac Mini, which Khan said is more popular than the Mac Pro.
Apple is also expanding the Houston site to include a new training center focused on advanced manufacturing skills, according to the company's statements. The expansion is part of the broader effort tied to the domestic manufacturing initiative.
Apple's past announcements about U.S. manufacturing have produced mixed outcomes. For example, in 2019 an Apple executive visited a Texas factory that had been promoted at the time as a new manufacturing site, though the facility had been producing Apple computers since 2013; that production was later moved to Thailand. Such examples have led analysts and observers to note a variable record when it comes to following through on publicized investment plans.
Despite the new Houston effort, Apple continues to make the majority of its products in Asia, primarily in China, while gradually shifting some production to other countries in the region such as Vietnam, Thailand and India. The company frames the Houston assembly as an addition to, rather than a replacement for, its existing manufacturing footprint.
As the U.S. assembly line is established later this year, the broader effects for suppliers, regional labor markets and technology manufacturing chains will depend on the scale of the operation and any future adjustments to the company's Asia-based production plans.