Worldwide Apple Suppliers Interactive Map Shows Where Apple Buys Parts

Every once in a while, the question of Apple parts comes up. Where do they get all the parts they use for their products, and what countries manufacture them exactly? A lot of people feel like Apple suppliers should be primarily in the States, and others feel like since people all over the world benefit from Apple’s products, they should share the love and give that business to many different countries.

According to Popsci, 2 months ago Bloomberg Businessweek Interviewed Tim Cook, and this topic came up. As it turns out, the processor for the iPhone and iPad are already created in the United States. In addition to that, Apple plans to invest $100 million dollars to move the production of some other parts into the States.

If we get back to the original question though, we still don’t have a specific answer, until now. Where are all the Apple suppliers located exactly? Just last month, Apple released an updated list of suppliers (download it here on PDF). The Center on U.S. – China relations (ChinaFile) used this information to create an interactive map which shows the location of all the Apple suppliers in the world.

Since this is only the second time in Apple’s history that they’ve released a list of suppliers, this information is interesting to many people who study the company and their success. The bottom line is, there are 748 total Apple suppliers. Out of that number, 663 (89%) are in Asia (44% of that number is in mainland China), and 10% of the 748 Apple suppliers are in North America. That leaves another 1% in other parts of the world. You can view this interactive map in full screen by clicking here on the ChinaFile website. This geeky, interactive map of Apple suppliers will keep Apple fans busy for a while.