Apple Tasks Second Assembly Partner in India With iPhone 14 Production

[Dwalls90]

Without Capitalism you would not have innovation and technology advancements. Companies need money to pay people to do research and developement. And they get that money by growing their companies and paying dividends to attract people to invest. Capitalism provides opportunities for everyone. Do you have investments? Do you keep them in an investment company or bank with no interest for free? There are many reasons why manufacturing is harder in the US, and it has to do with our governments trade policies and union wage issues. And also the high corporate tax rates in the US to doing business. We are the highest in the world.

I don't want this to spiral into a political debate, but I think we both know that to say everyone is afforded the same opportunities from birth is just not the truth. I'm not disagreeing that capitalism has provided some benefits, but typically the best outcome is a more middle-of-the-road approach where society is not tossed to the curb. Protecting workers via unions may be inconvenient to capitalism, but don't you think we should be protecting our people before profits? The USA is just riding high on the fact that it's currently the #1 country in the world, but if we look back in history, no country has held that title for too long.


Your statement regarding taxes is not correct:

Personal Income Tax:

#1 in the world: Finland @ 56%
USA: #42 in the world @ 37%

Sales Tax:

#1 in the world: Hungary @ 27%
USA: Varies, since only at the state level (sometimes). Assuming 5%, still more than 130th from #1.

Corporate Income Tax:

#1 in the world: Puerto Rico @ 37%
USA: #88 in the world @ 21%


Obviously some of this is situational, but in no situation is the US going to catapult to #1. There is a reason USA does not have public benefits that other first world countries have, like good parental leave, healthcare, education, etc.


For the record, I'm a tax accountant.

 

[SnappleRumors]

Nope..

Yep. You determined an employee’s ability to buy the product they assemble as good pay or not. If you didn’t mean that then you might correct yourself because it is bad logic.

 

[ipedro]

I think it could be done, but not in its current form…

Imagine an iPhone designed with minuscule components and assembled in a way that relies on advanced robotics to put the whole thing together, instead of using human hands & testing. It could probably be done with present-day tech, but due to the way labor costs and supply chains work, it simply isn’t realized.

So the factories could return… but would only need a handful of people to run them (instead of a city of 200k.)

Wages are just a part of the reason why all major tech companies manufacture in Asia/Pacific. The primary reason is the density of suppliers in the region. iPhones get parts from dozens of suppliers, who themselves may work with several suppliers to assemble their components before delivering them to Apple. It's just easier to have those hundreds of transactions per finished device to happen within proximity.

Having final assembly happen in the US, facilitated by dexterous robots, is just the last piece in the puzzle before shipment to the US anyway. Not much would be accomplished as suppliers would still do the majority of the work in and around Shenzhen and similar manufacturing centres.

It would take a decade at least for the US to attempt to replicate Shenzhen and that goes way beyond just Apple itself and having the US government create the conditions for all the smaller component suppliers to thrive in a small area. It's nowhere even close to that happening. Apple is best served diversifying from China while remaining in the region. India, the world's largest democracy (with its faults, no doubt) is a good choice.

 

[LightsOn45]

I think in the not too distant future China will be taking over China,

Well, I’d hate to be in China when that happens.

 

[pray2crom]

It's amazing watching Apple brag about their initiatives in social and environmental justice with their fan base clapping like seals at each step of the way while at the same time ignoring or completely dismissing the inhumane situation occurring at their Chinese factories. It's great to champion good causes but Apple could do a better job pretending they actually care.

 

[TheGenerous]

here are my two cents

 

[jlc1978]

Nope.. Have you heard about protests in iPhone factory in India last year? The wages were too low compared to the work they were doing. In fact an iPhone manufacturing worker (can be a qualified engineer) make less than a daily wages worker and way too less than someone who is employed at public sector.

If that is teh case, economic self interest would dictate passing up iPhone manufacturing and take one of those otehr jobs.

And.. iPhone doesn't fall in RR category. More like BMW/MB. So... yes an RR employee can afford a BMW or MB.

A bit misleading since both MB and BMW sell a wider range, including entry level, of vehicle than in the US; a number at much lower price points.

 

[lovehateapple]

wages are too high.

and there are too many regulations...

 

[danny842003]

and there are too many regulations...

The idea there’s too many regulations in the US is laughable. The employment system is practically Victorian.

 

[ian87w]

never the US.

Why do you think that is? And what is the US doing to mitigate that?

 

[ian87w]

It's amazing watching Apple brag about their initiatives in social and environmental justice with their fan base clapping like seals at each step of the way while at the same time ignoring or completely dismissing the inhumane situation occurring at their Chinese factories. It's great to champion good causes but Apple could do a better job pretending they actually care.

Apple is quite clear in their priorities, looking at their YoY financial reports, their treatment of their own employees, their stance on right to repair, their attitude towards their own customers, etc. The ones that shouldn't pretend are the fans who still turn a blind eye on anything that Apple did, thus justifying Apple's actions.

Eg, if people who wanted Apple to move away from China would actually walk the talk and stop buying made in China Apple products, Apple would surely pay attention. But they didn't. So why should Apple do anything different other than maximizing their margins.

 

[svish]

Great to see production expanding rapidly in India. Hopefully the Pro iPhones will also be assembled in India in the near future.

 

[PinkyMacGodess]

This will only last for Apple and others as long as India stays a rather stable country. That is not a given potentially. Sad...

 

[_Spinn_]

Good. Keep moving away from China.

 

[CarlJ]

wages are too high.

It's not just wages, you can't get a large enough group of employees in the US (willing to do hours and hours of very high precision assembly work) located in a dense enough area. Foxconn has a city with hundreds of thousands of workers in it. We don't have that kind of (unused) density here - you'd basically have to build an entire huge Apple Factory city from scratch and find several hundred thousand people willing to move there to do endless, tedious, high-precision assembly work.

The way that iPhone production will come to the US, eventually, is when they can massively automate the production line, with small handfuls of employees overseeing robots doing all the meticulous work.

 

[ipedro]

It's not just wages, you can't get a large enough group of employees in the US (willing to do hours and hours of very high precision assembly work) located in a dense enough area. Foxconn has a city with hundreds of thousands of workers in it. We don't have that kind of (unused) density here - you'd basically have to build an entire huge Apple Factory city from scratch and find several hundred thousand people willing to move there to do endless, tedious, high-precision assembly work.

The way that iPhone production will come to the US, eventually, is when they can massively automate the production line, with small handfuls of employees overseeing robots doing all the meticulous work.

People don’t understand what a unique series of conditions exist in and around Shenzhen that simply cannot be replicated in the United States with its existing economic conditions, workplace laws and expectations, and cultural norms.

Even with India scaling up to take a larger piece of the pie, China will remain involved as long as the density of suppliers remains there. India is at least in the same region and has a workforce availability identical to China. Also beneficial that it’s a democracy, friendly to the west.

Chip manufacturing could potentially move to the US given its automation and low labour requirements, depending instead on higher paid skilled but smaller workforce. Apple could move the majority of manufacturing out of volatile regions if much more of the componentry were on the same wafer. Graphics and modem moved and are moving to the main chip respectively. An iPhone with a dozen parts instead of hundreds could theoretically be built in the United States.