Asia Tech Wire (Nov 6) -- SpaceX has asked its Taiwanese suppliers to relocate their manufacturing operations, citing geopolitical risks, Reuters reported on Tuesday, citing sources familiar with the matter and corporate documents.
The report mentioned that last year SpaceX owner Elon Musk had said Taiwan was an integral part of China. SpaceX's latest request puts the relationship between Musk and Taiwan under scrutiny.
A source at a contractor that supplies components for SpaceX's Starlink satellite internet products revealed that SpaceX has asked its manufacturers to produce outside of Taiwan given the geopolitical risks, forcing several manufacturers to move their production operations to Vietnam, the report said.
Chin-Poon Industrial Co., Ltd. (2355.TW), a satellite parts maker that recently became a SpaceX supplier, told Reuters that the U.S. company asked them to move manufacturing operations for new orders from Taiwan to Thailand.
Another source working with Taiwanese satellite parts makers said SpaceX directly asked suppliers to move manufacturing operations out of Taiwan.
According to Reuters, some Taiwanese companies, particularly those in the strategic satellite and semiconductor industries, have begun taking steps to reduce their reliance on manufacturing on the island.
Wistron NeWeb Corp (WNC, 6285.TW), a Taiwanese supplier to SpaceX, began producing routers and other networking equipment for Starlink at its factory in the northern Vietnamese province of Hanam this year, two of the plant's workers and a contractor said.
And one of the workers said that WNC's expansion in Vietnam is largely to meet demand from SpaceX.
Universal Microwave Technology Inc (3491.TWO), another satellite component supplier to SpaceX, also invested in a new factory in Vietnam this year.
Universal Microwave Technology declined to comment on individual customers, but said it was expanding its Southeast Asian operations, including building new factories in Thailand and Vietnam.
In this regard, Taiwan's Ministry of Economic Affairs said on Tuesday that this year there have been 46 Taiwan factories cut into the international space supply chain, and the island has independent research and development and manufacturing energy in the satellite ground receiving equipment, which is competitive.
Therefore, the department believes that short-term political factors should not affect the cooperation between international satellite vendors and Taiwan manufacturers in the supply chain.
SpaceX has about a dozen direct suppliers in Taiwan, a source working with the island's satellite industry said.
