ABSTRACT
This chapter looks at the micro-level on the increasingly important role of China in the Information and Communications Technology global value chain (GVC), primarily as one of the major centers of production of sophisticated electronic equipment such as personal computer, laptops, tablet computers and smartphones. It examines Apple’s supply chain both globally and in China within the context of global value chain thinking generally. The chapter also looks at the mapping of Apple’s supply chain of component suppliers both globally and within China. To illustrate the global distribution of component suppliers, use is made of social network analysis, with country/economy of origin and country/economy of location being the key nodes in the network. The chapter traces the evolution of Asia’s evolving value chains. In fact, only 33.1 percent of all subsidiaries were located in developed market economies, 44.2 percent in China and 22.6 percent in other Asian and mainly Central American locations.
