SpaceX's suppliers are shifting production to Vietnam. (Source: The Economic Times)

“In the face of geopolitical risks and ever-changing customer demands, WNC has continued to expand its global manufacturing capacity,” the company’s latest annual report in April said.

Universal Microwave Technology, another SpaceX satellite parts supplier and manufacturer, invested in a factory in Vietnam this year, according to an official document from the company.

The company is also building a new factory in Thailand. “Planning overseas production capacity will help customers reduce doubts about geographical risks, gain customer recognition, and increase the scope of cooperation with customers,” the company said.

Taiwan (China) has a large satellite industry, with about 50 companies manufacturing ground equipment and other sensitive components.

Taiwan's government estimates the industry's output exceeded 200 billion Taiwan dollars ($6.23 billion) last year. Meanwhile, SpaceX has about a dozen direct suppliers from Taiwan.

Shenmao Technology, a supplier of solder materials for printed circuit boards and a component supplier to SpaceX, said in April that it would spend $5 million to build a manufacturing facility in Vietnam.

In September, it was reported that SpaceX wanted to invest $1.5 billion in Vietnam, but did not detail the timing and purpose of the investment.

Sources said that the partners' move or expansion of production to Vietnam was largely due to SpaceX's request.

Chin-Poon Industrial, a satellite components manufacturer that partners with SpaceX, said Elon Musk's company asked it to move production of new orders from Taiwan to Thailand, citing "geopolitical considerations."

SpaceX's move of Starlink component production out of Taiwan shows that this trend is continuing strongly.

Ming-Kuen Lai, CEO of Acter, a Taiwanese construction company, said the company's Southeast Asian business grew 50 percent last year, outpacing growth in Acter's core markets of Taiwan and China.

Acter specializes in building electronics factories and clean rooms for technology companies such as Foxconn, Delta Electronics, Wistron and ASE Technology.

Currently, the Southeast Asian market contributes just over 10% of Acter's revenue. However, Mr. Ming-Kuen Lai emphasized that Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia are recording strong growth rates.

“Vietnam is experiencing an electronics assembly boom, while Thailand is seeing a surge in new printed circuit board factories and Malaysia is attracting semiconductor packaging businesses,” he said.

Geopolitical tensions, combined with a priority on global supply chain resilience, have created major shifts in the tech industry.

After decades of concentrating manufacturing in China, electronics assemblers such as Foxconn, Quanta and Wistron, along with major chip suppliers from TSMC to United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC), are racing to set up operations in Southeast Asia, Japan and even Europe.