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How will this affect product quality, made in America has not the best reputation here in Europe. I own a car and some other products build in the states and I can see why.
 
How will this affect product quality, made in America has not the best reputation here in Europe. I own a car and some other products build in the states and I can see why.

I suspect very little of it will materialize

It's just Tim saying what is required to satisfy Don and avoid tariffs

The softer and gentler version "business equivalent" of fully corrupt quid pro quo that Trump loves
 
Lets say "China" (insert any non-US country) sells an item for $100 in the US. Okay, now we have tariffs and the item is now $120.

Even if the same "Made in the USA" item could sell in the US for $100 with profit, I guarantee you that the US made product will sell for $119.99.

I'm not saying that I am pro/anti tariffs. That's just capitalism.
The reality is most Americans don’t have any experience making any products.

I manufacture scientific gadgets in China. The kind of stocking stuffers you’d buy for the nerd in your life at Christmas or for their birthday. Stuff like gauss meters and soldering kits and such.

Anyways. None of the manufacturing for these sub components even exists in the US. I’d love to make this stuff in Wisconsin, but there ain’t a factory making transistors or capacitors or PCBs over there. China has it all. There’s 2 blocks next to each other in Hong Kong where I can get my packaging made, documentation, there’s English speaking electronics engineer and the actual factory next door.

None of that exists in the US. And 3 years of a prez administration isn’t going to change it. And yes the administration is only 3 years long. The entire 4th year is the campaign for the next one.
 
The reality is most Americans don’t have any experience making any products.

I manufacture scientific gadgets in China. The kind of stocking stuffers you’d buy for the nerd in your life at Christmas or for their birthday. Stuff like gauss meters and soldering kits and such.

Anyways. None of the manufacturing for these sub components even exists in the US. I’d love to make this stuff in Wisconsin, but there ain’t a factory making transistors or capacitors or PCBs over there. China has it all. There’s 2 blocks next to each other in Hong Kong where I can get my packaging made, documentation, there’s English speaking electronics engineer and the actual factory next door.

None of that exists in the US. And 3 years of a prez administration isn’t going to change it. And yes the administration is only 3 years long. The entire 4th year is the campaign for the next one.

Interested in your perspective here

With the low wages I assume are associated with most of this, would we even be able to provide this domestically?

(my assumption is "no")
 
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I wouldn't mind seeing more businesses in a place like Chicago that's a good central hub for transportation, plus has colleges like University of Chicago and UIC. However, I understand the appeal of places like Texas which has more business-friendly taxes & regulations.
 
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Tim Cook acts like a politician. For example, whenever Cook was asked why he didn't let Apple do more manufacturing in the U.S. rather than in China, he gave this excuse that manufacturing in China wasn't just for lower costs, but because of China's greater manufacturing infrastructure and expertise. But no one challenged Cook to explain WHY China has better manufacturing infrastructure and expertise. It's because decades ago, money-hungry companies like Apple shifted their manufacturing to China, thus creating the environment for China to grow that beneficial environment and workforce. In an alternate reality, if companies like Apple had kept their manufacturing in the U.S., then that same awesome manufacturing infrastructure and expertise would have been in the U.S. today, not in China. I hate it when people in the Media, who interview Tim Cook, never press him on that point.
US Corporations began shifting manufacturing shortly after Nixon visited China. Apple primarily manufactured out of Sacramento and Cork, Ireland well into the late 1990s. By then the entire IT world was manufacturing out of China.

Apple was late to do so.
 
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Here is my summary:
  • 2026: Manufacturing facility in Houston producing Apple servers for Apple Intelligence. Foxconn will own the facility.
  • Unknown: A supplier school in Michigan
  • Unknown: Expand existing data centres in the US
  • 2024: Chips manufactuering already occurring at the TMSC facility in Arizona handling some Apple Watches and iPads models. This factory was heavily subsidised under the Biden administration
  • Unknown: 20,000 new jobs primarily on R&D, silicon engineering (for their chips), and artificial intelligence. These will not be factory jobs for the rural working class, but engineering jobs at mostly existing Apple locations.
  • Unknown: Increase Apple's investment fund for small manufacturing companies by $10 billion

Do these numbers reflect how regular people will interpret them?

Perhaps, but it is important to know that in the statement Apple said "Apple supports more than 2.9 million jobs across the country through direct employment, work with U.S.-based suppliers and manufacturers, and developer jobs in the thriving iOS app economy"

Some might question the 2.9 million jobs claim, but Apple is of course counting in all the iOS developers.

But all Cook has to say to Trump is: "$500 billions in investmet, 20,000 new jobs in the US, new production facility, Mr. President!"

Again, Tim Cook, is a brilliant navigator in tumultuous political waters.
 
There are more details in this article...


Had to laugh out loud at this line:

"Trump, in a Truth Social post, thanked Apple and Cook, saying the move reflected the company’s faith in his administration."

No, Don, it represents nothing other than Tim knowing he has no choice but to participate in your Mob shakedowns
 
These are "plans". Plans can easily change. Trump's very short attention span will soon be on something else and he will be out of power or deceased before Apple actually spends many resources on these "promises"
Exactly. Remember when the Mac Pro was being made here and then suddenly wasn't?

I'm fine with stuff being made in the US, just don't be surprised if those plans change in November 2028 unexpectedly.
 
Lets say "China" (insert any non-US country) sells an item for $100 in the US. Okay, now we have tariffs and the item is now $120.

Even if the same "Made in the USA" item could sell in the US for $100 with profit, I guarantee you that the US made product will sell for $119.99.

I'm not saying that I am pro/anti tariffs. That's just capitalism.
No, it would sell for $130+, because you would now have an argument for charging more. Even though “made in US” is unlikely to improve quality. Probably the opposite.
 
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ASML High-NA Twinscan EXE lithography machines have a cost of approximately $380 million. I am uncertain about the number of machines required (approximately 5-6). Additionally, I would like to know the typical workflow for this type of plant.

Apple will not create their own factory. For chips-production they'll use the existing TMSC facility in Arizona which is already producing some chips for Apple for Apple Watches and low-end iPad models.

There is no promise that they will make chips for high-end iPhones or Macs, but it might happened.

Anyway, it's TMSC who is going to buy from ASML.
 
Interested in your perspective here

With the low wages I assume are associated with most of this, would we even be able to provide this domestically?

(my assumption is "no")
I'm not an expert in the subcomponent compensation, but yeah... I don't see where the margin is in having US hands manufacture a $0.06 capacitor or $1.37 PCB.

My products cost about $6/unit to make, another $5 to ship, Amazon takes their $8 cut and I sell it for $29.95. After taxes and paying my bills, I walk away with about $3 or 4 per unit sold. I don't see how US manufacturing would keep me solvent, because American customers don't want to pay $49 for a stocking stuffer that used to be $29... they'd see my $49 "final assembly in the USA" and still buy the tariffed $32 import from China, 99% of the time.

Obviously an Apple iPhone for $1000 or a $32,000 Toyota Camry has a different margin... but for the sub $200 "toy/curiosity/impulse buy market"... the US manufacturing story isn't feasible.
 
How will this affect product quality, made in America has not the best reputation here in Europe. I own a car and some other products build in the states and I can see why.

No iPhone, iPad or Macs will be assembled in the US if you read the statement carefully.
 
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While I am very happy Apple is showing willingness to on shore manufacturing again (was the Mac Pro the last attempt?), 20,000 jobs for a $500 BILLION investment seems a poor value proposition. That’s $25 MILLION for each job added.
For a sufficient number of *manufacturing* jobs created in the U.S., that could add a significant reduction in tariffs, potential or real, plus the trickle down effect of cash going to subcontractors and consumer suppliers in the U.S., and paying U.S. taxes, rather than that cash flowing to China and et.al., with those taxes and profits flowing outward from the U.S.

The question is whether one private "school" in Detroit can increase the number of competent manufacturing engineers and technicians in the U.S. by any significant amount. More leverage might come from letting major universities keep their DEI grift if they immediately redirect that cash directly to their manufacturing engineering departments. Make all those girls on ethnic studies scholarships switch to industrial engineering?
 
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Had to laugh out loud at this line:

"Trump, in a Truth Social post, thanked Apple and Cook, saying the move reflected the company’s faith in his administration."

No, Don, it represents nothing other than Tim knowing he has no choice but to participate in your Mob shakedowns
My completely imaginary guess is that the $1 million investment by Cook bought him the ability to get much more than that back in subsidies for building those factories, most of which was probably already planned, so that Trump could hold it up as a “win”.
 
Yep and when they find no local talent with the skillset… 20,000 automation engineers from India flown in on HB2s and cycled every 2 years.

It’s a token gesture to keep Trump from tariffing Apple, quite obviously. They correctly know Trump doesn’t have an attention span, and conveniently none of this comes due until 2030, when there will be other politicians with differing priorities who won’t be paying any attention to a reduced commitment or “reprioritization.”

It’s hard enough to find software engineers in the US. Not gonna find them in Houston — and data centers employ perhaps 50 people a piece, on the high end.
Says the person who probably manufactures in China.
 
I'm not an expert in the subcomponent compensation, but yeah... I don't see where the margin is in having US hands manufacture a $0.06 capacitor or $1.37 PCB.

My products cost about $6/unit to make, another $5 to ship, Amazon takes their $8 cut and I sell it for $29.95. After taxes and paying my bills, I walk away with about $3 or 4 per unit sold. I don't see how US manufacturing would keep me solvent, because American customers don't want to pay $49 for a stocking stuffer that used to be $29... they'd see my $49 "final assembly in the USA" and still buy the tariffed $32 import from China, 99% of the time.

Obviously an Apple iPhone for $1000 or a $32,000 Toyota Camry has a different margin... but for the sub $200 "toy/curiosity/impulse buy market"... the US manufacturing story isn't feasible.
I have a friend who does manufacture in the US, is sub $200, competes against Chinese copies, and does just fine.

Maybe you should try harder.
 
Says the person who probably manufactures in China.
I do, because 99.9% of Americans won't pay $49 or $79 for a scientific toy/gadget when my competitors will keep charging $29 for the identical Chinese-made one.

End of the day I gotta pay my bills, and nobody is gonna pay $79 for a stocking stuffer when there's a perfectly acceptable $29 one that's Chinese made.

People are verrrrry price sensitive. The number of people who will happily accept something costing twice as much as it did last week just because it's made in Eau Claire instead of Shenzhen, is pretty much 0.

There's a reason why Dollar Tree and Walmart, loaded with Chinese stuff are much larger outfits in the US than Prada and Gucci.
 
Here is my summary:
  • 2026: Manufacturing facility in Houston producing Apple servers for Apple Intelligence. Foxconn will own the facility.
  • Unknown: A supplier school in Michigan
  • Unknown: Expand existing data centres in the US
  • 2024: Chips manufactuering already occurring at the TMSC facility in Arizona handling some Apple Watches and iPads models. This factory was heavily subsidised under the Biden administration
  • Unknown: 20,000 new jobs primarily on R&D, silicon engineering (for their chips), and artificial intelligence. These will not be factory jobs for the rural working class, but engineering jobs at mostly existing Apple locations.
  • Unknown: Increase Apple's investment fund for small manufacturing companies by $10 billions

If you read the statement closely, there is no promise to move any assembly of iPhone, iPad and Macs to the US.
 
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