Foxconn is building a new $270 million plant in Vietnam

What you need to know

• Foxconn has been given a license that will allow it to build a new $270 million plant in Vietnam.
• The plant will build 8 million laptops and tablets per year.

It's expected that Apple will have MacBooks and iPad built at the new facility.

Apple supplier Foxconn has been granted a license to build a new $270 million plant in Vietnam, according to a new report. The plant will be capable of producing as many as eight million tablets and laptops, says Reuters.

Set to be built by Fukang Technology, the new plant is part of an ongoing $1.5 billion investment by Foxconn in Vietnamese plants as it seeks to diversify its portfolio at the behest of Apple. It's thought that the new plant will be producing MacBooks and iPad for Apple once it opens.

Foxconn is moving some iPad and MacBook assembly to Vietnam from China at the request of Apple Inc, a person with knowledge of the plan said in November, as the U.S. firm diversifies production to minimise the impact of Sino-U.S. trade tensions.

Foxconn's presence in Vietnam is good for the local economy, with a reported 10,000 jobs set to benefit local workers this year. This latest plant will be built in the northern province of Bac Giang, according to the report. The company is also said to be considering "investing $1.3 billion in Thanh Hoa province, 160 km (99.42 miles) south of Hanoi."

Apple is already expected to refresh a number of its MacBook and iPad lineups this year and beyond, although it isn't yet clear where they will be built.

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