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by pfranz 2553 days ago
I'm not surprised. I figured when they announced the Mac Pro would be produced in the US it was a test with a low volume product with high margins. That experiment failed (on many fronts), so they're reverting back to what they do for the rest of their products. Tim Cook has been pretty explicit about why they do production in China and it's not just the cost.

What's ironic is that only a week ago reports were that Apple is looking to move production /out/ of China (which is mentioned in the article): https://www.wsj.com/articles/apple-examines-feasibility-of-s...
1 comments
webmobdev 2552 days ago
What other reasons are there apart from low cost and lax environment regulations and weak labour laws?
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tcpekin 2552 days ago
Some interesting quotes (can be found in other accounts as well):

For Mr. Cook, the focus on Asia “came down to two things,” said one former high-ranking Apple executive. Factories in Asia “can scale up and down faster” and “Asian supply chains have surpassed what’s in the U.S.” The result is that “we can’t compete at this point,” the executive said.

“The entire supply chain is in China now,” said another former high-ranking Apple executive. “You need a thousand rubber gaskets? That’s the factory next door. You need a million screws? That factory is a block away. You need that screw made a little bit different? It will take three hours.”

So, from what I've read, there is also the huge factor of being able to easily source parts, much easier than in the US, and also much easier to change a factory.

[1] https://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/22/business/apple-america-an...

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pfranz 2552 days ago
Thank you for pulling a source and some specifics!

I also remember Apple talking about expertise. The number of people experienced in running a large factory exist in the US, but at a much smaller number. Which means they're harder to hire and likely warrant a higher salary.

I also think people greatly over emphasize the role of assembly. I believe it's less than 10% of the cost of each phone. But, in light of all that, it was good to see attempts to onshore more of the production.

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