On Thursday, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) CEO Tim Cook was joined by U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and others at the opening of the new Advanced Manufacturing Center in Houston, Texas, where Cupertino will begin making Mac mini computers later this year.
Apple Opens Houston Manufacturing Center
The 20,000-square-foot center will provide free training to small and midsized businesses, workers and students on advanced manufacturing techniques, including machine-learning-powered quality control and automation.
“In less than nine months, we have invested hundreds of millions of dollars into this Houston facility,” Cook said in a press release. He added that Apple is “pleased to begin Mac mini production later this year.”
In a post on X, Cook said, “Great to meet some of the first attendees with Secretary of Commerce @howardlutnick . They’ll learn the same advanced manufacturing techniques we use to build Apple products”
At the ribbon-cutting ceremony, Lutnick said the U.S. had spent decades pioneering new technologies while much of the manufacturing took place overseas, CNBC reported.
“We needed Apple’s commitment to build here in America, because they can uniquely, maybe, lead the charge for advanced manufacturing coming to America,” he stated.
“President Trump said we would bring advanced technology manufacturing back to America. Now the Mac mini will be made right here in Houston, Texas,” Lutnick said on X.
Apple Expands US Manufacturing Push
The tech giant has committed $600 billion to U.S. investments over four years, including efforts to expand domestic production of chips, components and other technologies. President Donald Trump has repeatedly urged Apple to manufacture iPhones in the U.S.
On Thursday, Cook said Apple sourced more than 20 billion chips from U.S. suppliers last year, including 100 million chips manufactured at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.’s (NYSE:TSM) Arizona facility, the report added.
The company has not committed to manufacturing iPhones in the U.S., however. It has instead expanded production in countries including India and Vietnam while increasing its presence in the American supply chain.
The Houston development also comes shortly before Cook is set to leave his role as Apple CEO on Sept. 1 and become executive chairman, with longtime hardware executive John Ternus taking over as CEO.
Price Action: Apple closed at $305.26 on Thursday, up 1%, while its shares were trading at $304.51 after hours, down 0.25%, according to Benzinga Pro.
Benzinga Edge ranks Apple stock in the 98th percentile for Quality, with the stock maintaining a positive price trend over the medium- and long-term, despite a negative short-term trend.
Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
Photo Courtesy: Joshua Sukoff on Shutterstock.com
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