Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) revealed its plans to shift a part of its Mac Mini production from Asia to the to a facility in Houston, Texas.

The move is part of Apple's broader push to bring portions of its supply chain back to the U.S. Production is set to begin later this year at a Foxconn facility in north Houston, Sabih Khan, Apple's chief operating officer, told the Wall Street Journal on Monday.

Despite the change, Mac Mini production will remain in Asia, Khan said, while the new U.S. assembly line will scale up to serve domestic demand. The move echoes Apple's earlier effort to manufacture the Mac Pro in Texas, a program that has since seen production taper off significantly.

Khan said Apple is more confident about long-term demand for the Mac Mini, which is more popular than the higher-priced Mac Pro. The company is also expanding its Houston facility to add a new advanced manufacturing training center, set to open later this year, where students ...