Pegatron Ready to Build iPhones in the U.S. If Apple 'Is Willing to Absorb the Costs'

[MacRumors]

After months of reports surrounding iPhone manufacturers like Pegatron and Foxconn potentially moving Apple device construction to the United States, Pegatron CEO Syh-Jang Liao this week commented that the company could build iPhones and iPads in the U.S. on the condition that its client, Apple, is ready to pay for the costs of moving manufacturing stateside (via Focus Taiwan).

Liao was responding directly to questions asked about President Donald Trump's request for American brands to keep their manufacturing in the U.S. In the wake of Trump's presidential win, months of reports have covered speculation about whether or not Apple suppliers could, or should, move production into the U.S. For Pegatron, if such a Trump initiative came into being, the company CEO said that it "already has its production lines in place."

"As long as there is demand, whether the clients are American or Chinese, Pegatron already has its production lines in place," Liao said. "If Trump institutes his Made in America proposal, it will be fine for Pegatron as long the client is willing to absorb the costs."

Just last week, Foxconn chairman Terry Gou raised concerns over the manufacturer's shift of iPhone production to the U.S. In his comments, he cited concern over whether or not the U.S. government could keep up with the regulations and laws needed to be passed before Foxconn would be able to build major iPhone plants in the country. Echoing Apple CEO Tim Cook, Gou also mentioned that the U.S. lacks the skilled labor needed for these plants to thrive.

In recent Apple-related Pegatron rumors, the manufacturer was suggested as to be the exclusive supplier of the 2017 iPhone 8's wireless charger. Along with an edge-to-edge OLED display, wireless charging is rumored to be one of the major selling points of the iPhone 8, in comparison to the more basic "iPhone 7s" and "iPhone 7s Plus." Pegatron will also help produce this year's upcoming iPhone, alongside Foxconn and reportedly Wistron.

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Article Link: Pegatron Ready to Build iPhones in the U.S. If Apple 'Is Willing to Absorb the Costs'

 

[MadeTheSwitch]

Pegatron already has its production lines in place

Where? That would have to be a pretty big operation to support the volume not to mention the people capital needed. Where is this production line? What state?

 

[djcerla]

Translation: "if the US taxpayers will absorb the costs via Trump incentives".

 

[dominiongamma]

If it raises the price of the iPhone no thanks!

 

[mozumder]

So, no iPhone manufacturing in the US.

Sorry American workers: you priced yourself out of this industry.

 

[Mascots]

LOL

"We'll totally build in US for the PR if the US taxpayers will subsidize the costs" is what that means.

 

[samcraig]

NGH

Never. Going. to Happen.

 

[adamjackson]

I can see it now. "Tim, by building iPhones on our soil, we'll have to lower our margins from 54% to 52% on every iPhone sold and Trump isn't open to any tax breaks to do so...oh and we can only build 950K iPhones a day instead of 1.1 million due to weak manufacturing skills in our workforce"

Tim, "Yeah no."

 

[akuma13]

So, no iPhone manufacturing in the US.

Sorry American workers: you priced yourself out of this industry.

America workers? They are plenty of Americans willing to have factory jobs regardless of pay.

 

[iapplelove]

it's tough to compete with factory work when other nations will pay 7 cents a day for their work force.

 

[s2mikey]

So, no iPhone manufacturing in the US.

Sorry American workers: you priced yourself out of this industry.

Yeah OR corporate greed and miserable, whiny shareholders who are never happy "priced" it out of the industry. Why do companies have to be such cheap bastards? C'mon, pay people well and much of it comes back via extra spending. Apple tends to be a bleeding heart company when it comes to social issues so Im shocked they arent more keen on "sharing" profits via higher wages. Guess their "bleeding heart" agenda only applies to transgender bathroom & sexuality issues. Great.

 

[Kaibelf]

it's tough to compete with factory work when other nations will pay 7 cents a day for their work force.

iPhone manufacturing at Foxconn pays something more like $2.50 per hour, or about 285x what you claim. Let's not look for the absolutely lowest pay that exists on the planet and apply it to every job in every industry. Also, let's not claim that these jobs, with the exchange rate and rental rates that aren't anything like San Jose, CA are "slave wages." It would be wonderful if every place in the world had comfortable, big homes for everyone with two-car garages, but that's not the case. Still, that's no excuse to overtly lie to make a point.

 

[usarioclave]

"If Apple will give us the factory and pay for all the labor, we'll do it."

Heck, if Apple gives all that stuff to me for free I'll set it up and do it too.

 

[FactVsOpinion]

As it becomes more and more automated, the cost of labor will be less and less prohibitive. A factory full of robots is eventually just as viable in the US as it is in China.

 

[iapplelove]

iPhone manufacturing at Foxconn pays something more like $2.50 per hour, or about 285x what you claim. Let's not look for the absolutely lowest pay that exists on the planet and apply it to every job in every industry. Also, let's not claim that these jobs, with the exchange rate and rental rates that aren't anything like San Jose, CA are "slave wages." It would be wonderful if every place in the world had comfortable, big homes for everyone with two-car garages, but that's not the case. Still, that's no excuse to overtly lie to make a point.

its not a lie as you say. it comes down to pay,wages..plain and simple/

it also costs more to live here. doesn't mean you need a big fancy house.

And by the way..all you did was use google, took an article from 2012 to get your 2.50/hour rate which includes OT. lol

the wages for an average worker who is just starting out at Foxconn is much much less.

 

[mozumder]

America workers? They are plenty of Americans willing to have factory jobs regardless of pay.

No there isn't.

American workers, especially millennials, literally won't do this type of work, at ANY price.

 

[dannyyankou]

No there isn't.

American workers, especially millennials, literally won't do this type of work, at ANY price.

Apple has a factory in Austin and they're manufacturing Mac Pros there right now. There's always going to be demand for these jobs.

 

[UltimateSyn]

That makes sense. I'll do just about anything if someone else will absorb the cost.

 

[CTHarrryH]

Automation is one of the issues - if someone were to build a plant in the US (or elsewhere) they would automate as much as possible. There was one study that indicated there would be very few jobs created by moving Apple manufacturing to the US. Since many of the raw materials don't exist, in nature, in the US there would still have to be extensive jobs out of the US. Also the type of manufacturing done to put together phones isn't done much in the US so there would have to be a lot of training.
Why shouldn't Apple or other companies make a lot of money. It is what pays for research and in Apple's case all the lawyers for the stupid law suites. I'll also bet whether you know it or not your retirement fund or IRA or 401K is invested in funds that contain Apple stock -so you make money when they make money.
Bring to the US is a great idea but not just for the sake of saying you did it. I want the best phone possible at the lowest possible price.

 

[avanpelt]

I think Apple should make a "Made in the USA" version of the iPhone one of these years and charge whatever premium they have to to cover the higher labor costs and just see how well the phone sells.

Most people under age 30 probably wouldn't want to buy the more expensive, "Made in the USA" version; but there are plenty of people in the 35-65 age range that have more disposable income and I think a good number of those people would pay more for a phone that was made in the USA. I would strongly consider buying an iPhone that was made in the USA to support American workers.

 

[mozumder]

Apple has a factory in Austin and they're manufacturing Mac Pros there right now. There's always going to be demand for these jobs.

Basically they found enough workers for the lowest-volume, most expensive product in a highly automated plant.

 

[SqB]

Factory shift work. Coal mine work. Got to love these jobs that are "coming back."

Let's put these folks to work on infrastructure and civil engineering projects. That's work/workers we are actually importing now that we shouldn't be.

The US will be the first nation to transition to a "post-work" economy. The sooner we begin to realize that not everyone will have a "real job" in the future, the sooner we can start truly figuring out what that means for people and their needs.

 

[nwcs]

I'd actually pay a bit more for a US made phone. Maybe $10-20 more. I think the long term gain from having more domestic production and its cascade of effects outweighs the small initial outlay. Not everyone would feel the same and more power to them. For myself, I would do it. If I lived elsewhere I'd probably say the same for domestic manufacture where I lived as well.

 

[dannyyankou]

Basically they found enough workers for the lowest-volume, most expensive product in a highly automated plant.

But there was still demand. And there's still plenty of manufacturing jobs in the US. There may not be huge demand for it, but people are always looking for jobs.

 

[jlc1978]

America workers? They are plenty of Americans willing to have factory jobs regardless of pay.

Except these factory jobs are likely to require skilled technicians and engineers to run a highly complex automated factory, not workers on a production line of assembling phones. The shop floor workers will most likely do some minor assembly but it won't be a return to the old days where lots of workers churned out product. Besides cost production volume requirements will drive automation to avoid issues like plagued the Mac Pro where the production line couldn't meet demand.

US manufacturing's future is high tech automated production operated by skilled staff with minimal human work on the line; except for possibly high end expensive or custom items where production costs are much less of the final price. As much as many people believe factory jobs like in the 50's and 60's will come back it isn't going to happen; especially since consumers don't want to pay the premium.