Jobs gets 1$ a year as salary. Perhaps they will raise it to a buck fifty? Hey, not too shabby.
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Steve Jobs to Meet with Obama on Thursday
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Jobs gets 1$ a year as salary. Perhaps they will raise it to a buck fifty? Hey, not too shabby.
Why wouldn't there be a profit?
It's no secret that Apple generally makes over a 30% margin on all products as it is right now. They could more than afford to pay a US citizen $15 an hour to build a product and still make a good 20% or more margin on the same product.
The problem with Apple is that they put margins before EVERYTHING else. With them its not "how many can we sell" so much as it is "how much money can we make off each individual sale". Hence the reason the original iPad got shafted with no camera and only 256MB of RAM, or while Apple still offers a number of computers that ship with 2GB of RAM and Core 2 Duos.
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I bet some would prefer Apple over other brands if they started to advertise their products as "Made in USA." Hell if they made the commitment why shouldn't the corporate tax be amended a bit to help them help us.
mosx said:
I bet some would prefer Apple over other brands if they started to advertise their products as "Made in USA." Hell if they made the commitment why shouldn't the corporate tax be amended a bit to help them help us.
swingerofbirch
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One of the few things I feel I am able to brag about to my Swedish relatives is that we still have some amazing companies like Intel, Apple, Google, and Microsoft in the US, which is great, even if all the hardware is made elsewhere. We're still leading the world in software. I think it's great that the president wants to focus on what is working well and learn from it and apply it to other areas.
Here's a theory. What if it's actually Steve that has called a meeting with Obama, Schmidt and Zuckerberg? Maybe he wants to discuss certain plans in the unlikely case of his death.
Maybe they (Steve Jobs or Eric Schmidt) can talk President Obama into switching off of Blackberry to an American phone 
Doubtful, highly doubtful. Just not on the labor issue, but you have to also factor in health care, benefits, and the occasional multi-million dollar lawsuit and regs (e.g. EPA, OSHA, ect...) that goes into making a factory. In comparison, the Chinese workers now making Apple products are getting a few hundred per month in a region that looks the other way in many cases when it comes to environmental and worker safety issues.
Oh, and the parts (e.g. LCD) that go into it are controlled by IP holders located in Asian countries (e.g. SK, TW, and CN). Do you really think they are going to give those up so easily? Sure, they might do a licensing deal, but at a hefty sum.
How about energy cost and raw materials ? You do know that China is now restricting the export of REM's (Rare Earth Metals) that are needed. While there are there are other sources, its not as cheap and as available as are the REM's in China. And energy cost more in the US, due to our environmental regulations on Power Co's
So, no, I don't think a 10% reduction in margins would cover making the products here in the US.
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In Jobs we trust
No flippin way, trusting Jobs is a thing of the past. Long, long ago.
I know I'd actually buy Apple products again if they were "Made in the USA". Absolutely.
So its best for them to continue using what amounts to slave labor in poor conditions for sake of profit?
If Apple were willing to take their margins down to what other companies and even if it required an extra $50 or so be added to some products price tag, I doubt you'd find any US resident complaining. I know I'd gladly pay extra for a product made here rather than one made in, again, a situation that amounts to slave labor.
Ballmer wants a free iPhone too, any color will do.
preferably in Zune brown.
obama probably just wants the latest scoop on the latest round of apple refreshes, like whether the mbp will have ssd, etc.
At no time has it been reported that these two power hungry ego maniacs, know how to listen & learn. Surely you jest.
I made no judgement call, none. You said
My point was that they could not simply make a little less and manufacture their electronics (e.g. iPhone, iPad) here. It sounds good and all, but it neglects the realities of the Chinese labor market verses the United States labor market. In short, a 10% reduction will just not cover the difference in cost. Not by a long shot.
Please. Companies didn't leave first, employees left first. I worked for a company that had 3 main factory plants, in a high tech industry. One here in MN, one in Mexico, one China. Never visited the other two, but the local one was staffed mainly with recent immigrants, mostly from eastern Asia. Not exactly the "good ol' real American" stuff people like you are reminiscing about, yet have probably never experienced.
And that was 15 years ago when I worked there. Now, the research was here. People here are willing to do that kind of work.
Face it, people here don't want to do this work, not in the numbers it takes to support our high-tech purchasing. It had to leave this country or all this tech wouldn't even exist today. Japan doesn't do this work anymore, either.
I understand what you mean but the thing is that you have to look at the situation strictly from a business point of view. Isn't doing business all about maximizing profits?
If one has the ability to earn more, wouldn't one do so (even when it doesn't really "look that nice" to others? Who in their right frame of mind would give up the opportunity to earn more if they are able to do so? You also have to understand that Apple, just like any other big corporation, is a business, not a "charity" organization.
For Steve to attend personally suggests he is well enough to do so and is happy for others outside of Apple to see his state of health with their own eyes. I don't think anyone is suggesting he is fine but it's better than the news item being Jobs had to speak via telephone because he was unable to attend.
I understand what you mean but the thing is that you have to look at the situation strictly from a business point of view. Isn't doing business all about maximizing profits?
Only in the sick American version of capitalism. There is this thing called social market economy, where social does NOT equal socialism - but that's probably another concept that most Americans fail to grasp.
If one has the ability to earn more, wouldn't one do so (even when it doesn't really "look that nice" to others?
People who actually have a long term vision and accept responsibility and are not just driven by pure greed.
Simple scenario: You could earn a couple of million dollars by slicing up a dying company and firing its employees. -- OR -- you could invest a couple of million dollars to safe this company, its employees and their (common) future.
Your logic dictates that a business should be unscrupulous, put any responsibility and ethics aside and go for the quick and easy income. And that train of thought is exactly what made America the soulless, cruel, cold place that it is today. No matter how much Disney-sugar-coating you put on top of it, you can no longer hide the fact that "corporate America" has become inhumane and turned into hell itself. Blind and irresponsible greed - and fear - destroyed what once was a great place to be.
You also have to understand that Apple, just like any other big corporation, is a business, not a "charity" organization.
Yes, that's why Apple - unlike Microsoft - doesn't do anything for charity.
Microsoft is as brutal as any other corporation when it comes to business, BUT Microsoft also does a lot for education and charities. And no, I am NOT mistaking Microsoft for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation - those are two different things, but Microsoft has already done a lot before Bill Gates even thought about starting his Foundation.
Microsoft doesn't do this out of the goodness of their hearts. They do this because such investments pave the wave for a better future for everybody which secures the company's own growth on the long run.
Bill Gates also always believed that out-sourcing was an extraordinarily stupid idea and that out-sourcing production and development to foreign countries on the long run only destroys your home country's economy and intellectual resources and capabilities. Because when you outsource development and production to another country, all you do is building up THEIR economy and THEIR infrastructure and THEIR future. By out-sourcing, you're only breeding your future competitors. But it looks great on your short term revenue streams - and greed dictates that you should do this, because, as you've said, businesses are only in this for the money and to increase their revenue.
Well, all the components are made in the Far East, so it would just be "assembled in the USA from foreign and domestic parts".
Or can all the subcontracted parts (LCD, ICs, caps, resistors, PCB (+ processing), plastic molding and metal forming) also be moved to the USA?
Regarding the original story - it's likely to be a PR move. Obama needs some help in the ratings and have some SJ/Apple cool. Apple is about to launch an iPad 2, so it's good to be in the news. SJ health is a concern, so this is a play to show investors that things are still fine with Steve.