The electronics group Apple is apparently planning to use microchips in its devices in the future that are manufactured in its American home market.
According to a report by the news agency "Bloomberg", CEO Tim Cook said this to employees of the company during his recent visit to Germany.
He added that Apple could also use chips produced in Europe in the future, without giving any further details.
For Apple, this would be another step to diversify its supply chain.
Although Apple now develops its chips itself, it has them manufactured by the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company ( TSMC ), a semiconductor manufacturing giant.
Similar to the assembly of its devices, the group also relies on a contract manufacturer for these components.
So far, the Apple chips all come from Taiwan.
According to the report, Cook said a total of 60 percent of all chips used globally are currently made in Taiwan.
The Apple boss did not say from whom the future semiconductors that are to be produced in the USA are to be obtained.
However, he said the chips will be built at a factory in Arizona state that is scheduled to start operations in 2024, which indicates that the partner will be TSMC, as it has been so far.
The Asians are building a $12 billion plant in Arizona and have announced 2024 as the start date.
They recently said they were planning a second manufacturing facility in the immediate vicinity.
The American semiconductor group Intel is currently building up additional production capacities in Arizona.
However, Apple replaced Intel as the chip supplier some time ago.