Apple To Build Tabletop Robot And Home Hub In Vietnam
The company is developing a range of new home devices for next year, including indoor security cameras and a display designed to control appliances and serve as a house command hub.
Apple Inc. is preparing to expand its manufacturing operations in Vietnam as part of a push into the smart home market and an ongoing effort to lessen its dependence on China.
The company is developing a range of new home devices for next year, including indoor security cameras and a display designed to control appliances and serve as a house command hub. A more advanced tabletop robot — capable of using motors and sensors to move — is slated to follow in 2027.
All three products are on track to be built in Vietnam, a major change in how Apple approaches a new product category, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The company has typically built new devices in China before adding production elsewhere or shifting it to another location.
For the upcoming home hub and the later robot, the company is teaming up with BYD Co., a Chinese firm best known for its electric vehicles but increasingly involved in Apple’s hardware supply chain.
BYD will handle what’s known as final assembly, testing and packaging. That’s the stage where devices are built, tested, and prepared for shipment to customers and retail stores.
The company is also planning to expand its manufacturing of iPads with BYD in Vietnam, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the initiatives haven’t been announced.
The tech giant already produces some iPads, AirPods, Apple Watches, Macs and older HomePods in the country. A spokesperson for the Cupertino, California-based company didn’t respond to a request for comment.
The expansion underscores Apple’s growing reliance on Vietnam as a key production center. The company has been diversifying away from China as it copes with rising geopolitical tensions, ongoing threats of tariffs and the risk of supply chain disruptions.
However, Apple won’t escape tariffs by moving manufacturing to Vietnam. Products imported from that country face a 20% levy under the reciprocal tariffs announced July 31 by the Trump administration.
India, meanwhile, has become a base for US-bound iPhone production. And Apple builds some products, including Macs, in Malaysia and Thailand.
The hardware for Apple’s new home hub — a roughly 7-inch square-shaped display — was completed nearly a year ago. The product was originally slated for a March 2025 debut, timed to coincide with a revamped version of the Siri voice assistant. But the underlying artificial intelligence software was postponed, prompting Apple to delay the hardware as well.
After scrapping launch targets in June and October, Apple is now aiming to introduce the device in spring 2026.
The new Siri, currently planned for this coming March, will allow users to get answers from the web — as they would using ChatGPT or another chatbot — and have more precise control over actions inside apps. That should make it useful for a device aimed at controlling appliances, music and communications within a home.
There are two versions of the home hub. One, code-named J490, has the display mounted on a speaker base. It resembles a screen-equipped version of the HomePod mini. The second, dubbed J491, is designed to be hung on a wall. Development of the wall-mounted version wrapped up after work on the standard tabletop model.
Both devices will include a FaceTime camera and a software interface that dynamically adjusts depending on who is using it. The software will recognize users when they approach the display, similar to the adaptive behavior of Amazon.com Inc.’s latest Echo displays. Development began in 2023, Bloomberg News reported at the time.
Apple has targeted a price of around $350 for the new device. That would be about $50 more than the full-sized HomePod, and still far above competing products from Amazon and Alphabet Inc.’s Google.
Apple’s operations teams have been exploring ways to reduce manufacturing costs in hopes of bringing the price down, either for the initial release or subsequent generations, the people familiar with the matter said.
The indoor security camera, code-named J450, is planned for release as soon as the end of next year.
Apple is also planning production for the tabletop robot, which resembles the home hub display but sits on a motorized arm capable of moving the screen around a user’s workspace or kitchen.
The motor system has had engineering challenges, and the company has sought to find compelling AI uses for the device. That’s pushed out the current timeline to roughly two years from now.
Apple is targeting a price in the several-hundred-dollar range, reflecting the high cost of the robotic components and associated development costs. The initiative traces its roots to Apple’s now-shelved self-driving car project, which included a team focused on robotics.
The company is also working on a robotic arm for manufacturing and has explored mobile robots similar to the Amazon Astro.
Beyond its motion capabilities and an upgraded, more conversational version of Siri, the tabletop robot will feature a roughly 9-inch display — about the size of an iPad. That will be bigger than the home hub’s screen.
Both devices will use low-cost LCD panels supplied by Tianma Microelectronics Co., rather than Apple’s latest display technology.
