UNEXPECTEDLY: Tech Exodus From China Accelerates. These Emerging Markets May Benefit.

Japanese chief executives aren’t generally known for bold political statements. Hideo Tanimoto, president at electronics power Kyocera (ticker: 6971.Japan) broke with tradition last month to share what he really thinks about China.

“The business model of production in China and exporting abroad is no longer viable,” he told the Financial Times.

Tech heavy hitters across the globe are leaning the same way. Dell Technologies (DELL) the world’s No. 3 computer manufacturer, leaked plans to stop using Chinese microchips by next year. Rival Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) is selling out of a 20-year-old IT equipment joint venture, a securities filing by Chinese partner Tsinghua Unigroup revealed. German engineering giant Siemens (SIE.Germany) is looking to invest its next euro in Southeast Asia to decrease Chinese dependence.

Companies and consultants have talked about “China +1” for years as relations between Beijing and Washington deteriorated. The trend is accelerating. “I heard from companies throughout the region an increased appetite to reduce component sourcing or move manufacturing out of China,” says Mehdi Hosseini, senior tech analyst at Susquehanna International Group, just back from an Asian swing.

Potential beneficiaries of the China techxodus stretch from Mexico to Poland, Malaysia and Vietnam. Potential losers are global consumers, who may have to pay more for their gadgets as humming Chinese supply chains, built up over two decades, fragment. “Companies have experienced significant margin improvement from being in China,” Mehdi says. “They’ll have to find other ways to take the cost out.”

Flashback to November of 2019: How to Conduct Business with Chinese Companies That See a Dark Future.