Microsoft, HP and Dell are rushing to prepare as many electronics components as possible before January in expectation that Donald Trump will hike tariffs on Chinese goods when he returns to the White House.
Microsoft has been asking suppliers to ready more components for its cloud server infrastructure from November through December, mainly to avoid the expected tariffs, people with knowledge of the matter told Geo Indo Pacific.
The company has also asked suppliers to make all of the components and carry out all assembly of the Xbox game console outside of China as soon as possible and to make as many of the Surface laptops as possible outside of China by the end of next year, two people familiar with the matter said.
