HP shifts production back to China as costs soar

Firms are moving some manufacturing back to offset surging memory and storage chip prices fueled by AI demand. Leading PC makers are shifting some production back to China as costs bite. Firms including US-based HP — which had planned to shift more than half of its production out of the country in a “China+1” strategy — are moving some manufacturing back to offset surging memory and storage chip prices fueled by AI demand. Despite the risk of rising Western protectionism, experts believe more companies will return: “ China’s supply chain retains a distinct advantage,” an analyst said. Tech giants like Apple have sought to create alternative supply chains in India, which has spent billions to attract high-tech manufacturing. But “paying its suppliers ever-larger subsidies in the hope of recreating China is unlikely to be a winning trade,” a Bloomberg columnist argued.