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Future iPhones Could Be 'Made in America' as Apple Asks Foxconn to Consider U.S. Manufacturing
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We also make Brawndo...
I think when people hear the word "jobs", they begin to salivate like Pavlov's dog. Just because it's a job making some high tech gadget it doesn't mean it's a well paying job.
[doublepost=1479484655][/doublepost]Also, I think when people see these Chinese workers making high tech gadgets, they automatically assume it's a high paying job. I mean just look at them, dressed all nice like working on some CSI **** in a high tech factory.
Newsflash: when you see these types of workers think of Lucy working in the chocolate factory. How much fun was that for her? Also, don't forget these large companies have nets to prevent suicide. Think about that.
If manufacturing jobs come back to the US, they will not come back to the old rust belt factories and look the same as they did when they left the US. PA won't get back their large steel mills run by an army of union workers with good salaries and benefits. They will come back to new modern highly automated factories that have a few well educated workers (Engineers, Techs, and Computer Scientists) running the show from a control room.
I am not being critical one way or the other.....I just don't expect to see an army of well paid US factory workers standing on an iPhone assembly line doing labor intensive piece work like they do in China.
I am not being critical one way or the other.....I just don't expect to see an army of well paid US factory workers standing on an iPhone assembly line doing labor intensive piece work like they do in China.
Based on imports? Huh? Why? We used to make everything here and it was all working out great. Then, investor bloodsuckers started wanting more and more and more profits along with the Govt growing like tumor sucking up tax dollars. The result? Bye bye jobs and standard of living for many people all so a few can get rich. If prices go up then that's NOT a big deal if the wages also go up. It's all relative.
As for walls....why shouldn't we be protecting our nations borders? If people want to come here there is a process in place for them to follow. Maybe in Europe they are fine with this "group hug" crap and everything is wide open. Well, sorry but we aren't interested in that nonsense. Actually, Europe is starting to get tired of this everyone is welcome crap. It's starting to take it's toll on their resources and safety.
For all those that are fleeing dictatorships or poverty....revolt and overthrow your leaders. That's how nations are built. Takes blood and guts. Don't come over here with your hand out. Make it happen. That's what our ancestors did many years ago.
You forgot about the part where we, as in the USA, support unsavory characters around the word when it suits our interests. We support these unsavory characters despite our call for freedom and democracy and similar ******** that people that already have power can easily ask for.
Maybe we should stop providing military support and stop interfering with the politics of other countries before telling people to overthrow their leaders.
It's a great idea manufacturing in the US but if the price goes up significantly then people will buy elsewhere. There's a very good reason why manufacturing is based in china and that's because labour is cheap and output is higher by the hour. I'll be interested to see how this pans out to be honest lol.
Sadly Tim just makes himself look like an idiot when he says these stupid things about the American workforce. There are plenty of people that could be working manufacturing and in fact many where working in manufacturing before the big exodus to China. Beyond that there is a thing called automation which can keep us competitive with other labor forces.
This coming from someone that is a big fan and user of Apple products.
As for Trumps efforts with respect to a tariff on imports form China we will see in the end how that works out. Being the type of business man he is, I just see the big percentage as a bargaining chip to get more equitable trade deals with China and other nations. In any event I really think Apples heyday with respect to china manufacturing is over, even if Trump wasn't elected there would be efforts afoot to re-establish the lost manufacturing base this country once had.
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Even an automated assembly line will have a number of workers tending to it. Nothing runs without complications. Beyond that skilled positions abound in a highly automated plant. Software and electrical engineers are required to keep the line functional and running new products. In between technicians are required, in a nut shell automation just makes more higher paying positions available.
In case you are wondering I work in automation right here in the USA and see the results of a plants transformation to highly automated manufacturing. It isn't perfect but it is a good deal for keeping Jobs in the USA.
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This coming from someone that is a big fan and user of Apple products.
As for Trumps efforts with respect to a tariff on imports form China we will see in the end how that works out. Being the type of business man he is, I just see the big percentage as a bargaining chip to get more equitable trade deals with China and other nations. In any event I really think Apples heyday with respect to china manufacturing is over, even if Trump wasn't elected there would be efforts afoot to re-establish the lost manufacturing base this country once had.
[doublepost=1479503602][/doublepost]
The wage paid workers is only part of the problem. In any event automation should be at the heart of any attempt to bring manufacturing to the USA. Frankly it provides for higher paying engineering and maintenance positions and make life far easier for the entry level labor.
Even an automated assembly line will have a number of workers tending to it. Nothing runs without complications. Beyond that skilled positions abound in a highly automated plant. Software and electrical engineers are required to keep the line functional and running new products. In between technicians are required, in a nut shell automation just makes more higher paying positions available.
In case you are wondering I work in automation right here in the USA and see the results of a plants transformation to highly automated manufacturing. It isn't perfect but it is a good deal for keeping Jobs in the USA.
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Well in this case he probably did make it happen or certainly instigated the current discussion about doing so. Without a doubt the number one reason Trump got elected was the issue of jobs. This includes jobs lost to China and those lost to undocumented workers in the USA. Like it or not this is a huge number of voting people and frankly a rational response when plants are closed for no reason other than to go cheap in China.
I can't believe you just said that. America hasn't really seen any of the so called "blood shed" you're talking about. It's still the new kid in the block. All European and Asian countries are hundreds if not thousands of years old. Compare that to what you've got there. America as a country is made on top of the ideology of being able to purchase. It's a consumer market. Nothing gets built in America. Where have you been hiding for the better part of the last 50 years?!
Somewhere with cheap land and easy access to ports to bring in all the parts for the machines to build the phones with. So probably Texas, somewhere in the Nevada desert might work too as you don't have far to go to get to ports in California.
Sounds like good advice, especially since we've still got our second amendment rights, and the will of the numerical majority was clearly ignored in our recent election.
You need people to maintain those robots, program them, test them, etc. and there are many functions which are very hard for robots to replace. Not to mention replacing middle management jobs in china for managing suppliers and logistics with Americans. Also, better for the environment.
But even if we discounted all of that, and we just had robots, I'd rather have American robots making products than people in other countries doing it via slave labor. It would drive the need to create better robots, and continue to allow us to manufacture products versus relying on other countries to do it.
Whichever direction Apple goes, their days are numbered by Trump..
Either keep making phones in China and pay the 45% import, or higher prices in the U.S and possibly the end consumer at purchase, and lack of skill, according do what i see it as..I should think being made in the U.S should also hopefully shorten the supplier delays that keep happening
Either keep making phones in China and pay the 45% import, or higher prices in the U.S and possibly the end consumer at purchase, and lack of skill, according do what i see it as..I should think being made in the U.S should also hopefully shorten the supplier delays that keep happening
Trumps thoughts and ideas are not so easy to implement.
Not really sure how he can apply a 45% tax. The iPhone is a smartphone and you can not create a tax for just one particular manufacturer of smartphones. The majority of the smartphones come from either China,South Korea,Taiwan or Vietnam it seems. Now if Trump does this it would mean it would pertain to all imported smartphones. He could impose a Smartphone tax of 45% but this mean that every smartphone manufacturer would have to pay this as well which would mean that cost would go up by 45% at minimum. I do not see this working out as easily as planned.
If minimum wage goes to $15 in America and the average guy works 8 hours that person would be making $120 then you add workers comp on top of that and now your wage is huge. The average guy in China does not work 8 hors either for $27.50 but most likely at least 10 hours. The factory also does not run for 8 hours either
The cost in labor difference alone would most likely be at least $100 per day per person! We are not even counting all the benefits that the Americans want at their jobs as well
If the pone costs double the high end smartphone will be close to $2000 if it were to be made in America (high end model from Apple). Not sure how many Americans are going to be willing to fork out $2K in America for a smartphone. The majority of the people these days who own a smartphone can not even afford to buy a smartphone out right at today's prices that they go out and get a plan with it so they can make monthly payments on it and end up tied to a particular carrier until they can pay it off.
If smartphones double in cost then either the contracts will double in length or phones will double in price.
Not really sure how he can apply a 45% tax. The iPhone is a smartphone and you can not create a tax for just one particular manufacturer of smartphones. The majority of the smartphones come from either China,South Korea,Taiwan or Vietnam it seems. Now if Trump does this it would mean it would pertain to all imported smartphones. He could impose a Smartphone tax of 45% but this mean that every smartphone manufacturer would have to pay this as well which would mean that cost would go up by 45% at minimum. I do not see this working out as easily as planned.
If minimum wage goes to $15 in America and the average guy works 8 hours that person would be making $120 then you add workers comp on top of that and now your wage is huge. The average guy in China does not work 8 hors either for $27.50 but most likely at least 10 hours. The factory also does not run for 8 hours either
If smartphones double in cost then either the contracts will double in length or phones will double in price.
if its made in america id happily pay double or triple the current price.
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I'd rather have 1 job in the west than to have 5000 jobs in china. even if they do all robotics and 1 guy to oversee them its a huge improvement.
While all of you belittle each other, I'm sitting here imagining 100% made in the USA Apple products and estimating a markup price over the latest MSRP and laughing to myself. People thought the new MBP was overpriced for what it was? Wait until then, if it ever comes to fruition.
Foxcon is moving to more and more assembly automation for the high volume products they produce. Automated assembly robots are not cheap, even in China, and the driving costs for any assembly line start to shift towards capital and supply chain costs.
One of the lines they use for iPhones is about 80% automated today.
If Apple invests in the hardware, that eliminates Foxcon's concerns over capital outlay. That leaves supply chain. The costs to ship the components for a million phones from Asia to the US is probably cheaper than shipping a million phones from China to the US, and of course if Apple can get suppliers to absorb those costs and pay FOB San Jose, the difference in the overall costs of manufacturing the phone won't climb in any significant way.
What would cause Apple to take this approach? In part, removal of the confiscatory taxes that prevent it from repatriating 60 billion in foreign profits.
One of the lines they use for iPhones is about 80% automated today.
If Apple invests in the hardware, that eliminates Foxcon's concerns over capital outlay. That leaves supply chain. The costs to ship the components for a million phones from Asia to the US is probably cheaper than shipping a million phones from China to the US, and of course if Apple can get suppliers to absorb those costs and pay FOB San Jose, the difference in the overall costs of manufacturing the phone won't climb in any significant way.
What would cause Apple to take this approach? In part, removal of the confiscatory taxes that prevent it from repatriating 60 billion in foreign profits.
Absolutely! Picking winners and losers is a bad thing for government to do. It's the first step into corruption.
Just so I'm clear: Across the board lowering of taxes isn't welfare. Giving money or special tax incentives is. Propping up poor business decisions through bailouts is.
So, that's why Mercedes Benz, Honda, Boeing, Glock, and other manufacturers have revitalized the South's industrial manufacturing, created stable jobs, filled tax coffers, and continue to attract American workers from all over including California, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, etc. \:-/
i dont think assembling the iphone in the USA will cost as much as people think
my company does some manufacturing in China but we really dont save that much money. What we get is a higher quality product, in less time, and honestly the Chinese manufacturers I have worked with are more professional.
the problem i see is people in the USA aren't going to want to do the work and you're not going to find enough people for a foxconn type factory. So it will happen when setting up robotics in the USA is cheaper than fedex shipping the iphones over from China
Also, bring on the 15% corporate tax rate, PLEASE! i will hire more people and invest more in new products. Since Obama asked to lower it from 35% to 25% and nobody did anything i'm not holding my breath.
my company does some manufacturing in China but we really dont save that much money. What we get is a higher quality product, in less time, and honestly the Chinese manufacturers I have worked with are more professional.
the problem i see is people in the USA aren't going to want to do the work and you're not going to find enough people for a foxconn type factory. So it will happen when setting up robotics in the USA is cheaper than fedex shipping the iphones over from China
Also, bring on the 15% corporate tax rate, PLEASE! i will hire more people and invest more in new products. Since Obama asked to lower it from 35% to 25% and nobody did anything i'm not holding my breath.
Foxconn??? How about Apple use a fraction of that $250B cash pile to actually build it's own damn factories in the US? They seem willing to drop $2B on a donut campus in Cupertino, but are unwilling to spend anything on manufacturing. Unbelievable!
Oh but wait, this is the "new" Apple. Right.
Oh but wait, this is the "new" Apple. Right.
