Major PC manufacturers , , and are shifting some production capacity back to after previously moving operations to . The brands are signing new contracts with Chinese firms Luxshare, Huaqin Technology, and Longcheer Technology to build hardware.
The move follows a 500% surge in memory and storage chip prices over 12 months, alongside rising costs for PCBs and fiberglass. While Acer CEO Jason Chen noted new Thai lines are not yet profitable, Chinese firms offer access to domestic CXMT memory chips.
This shift highlights the difficulty of decoupling from China as AI demand strains global supply chains. While firms like Anduril attempt to source 90% of components from U.S. allies, they expect costs to be 20% higher than these China-based competitors.