Counter MBA philosophy
Not sure how any of you can doubt this is indeed how Apple works.
Of course they try to get the best prices on manufacturing and use economies of scale to further drive down prices; of course they try to out compete on price when they can --- the iPad is actually cheaper than comparable quality Android tablets; of course they go for as healthy a profit margin as they can command, etc. And they like to outsource manufacturer to China, where the very state subsidizes costs in order to keep all costs low for U.S. companies. Yes, Apple likes making money, and I can only imagine Apple has a few very smart MBAs in the supply chain.
...but what makes Apple different than other companies is the focus on creating a really great product that first and foremost, people want to buy! It must be eye catching and stand out from the crowd; it must be useful; it must be simple; it must be fun; it must exude quality; and when you put all of this together, it must be a product that is a status symbol that both rich and people of lesser means are willing -- eager!! -- to purchase. No one has ever done all of this by solely focusing on lowering labor costs and cost cutting, the MBA way.
Apple is very smart about their supply chain but they are just as smart not to skimp on creating highly usable, attractive and useful products. In this sense, Apple is the anti-MBA company in that they do not follow the MBA rulebook of spending as little as possible on creating great products (almost no one invests in usability anymore) or even trying to do genuine innovation (easier to wait and copy someone else). Under the MBAs, most companies push first for lower costs (labor, materials, services) and creating products people wants to buy a distant second.
And though manufacturing is all in China, don't be surprised if Apple will end up with as many U.S. employees as IBM or HP in a few years as these latter companies are working so hard to to shed as many American/Western employees as they can, being led by MBAs who only understand cost cutting and the 'bottom line' but have no idea how to make quality products someone wants to buy.
Steve Jobs was NOT a MBA; if he had been, Apple would be a mediocrity at best like so many MBA-led U.S. companies.