It is nice that Mac is employing more Americans than before but America needs more than Apple to solve its unemployment issues, lol, seriously, people.
It isn't just about unemployment. if 40-55% of the Mac Pros are being bought in in North and South America and 50-70% if throw in Europe, why not produce them in the USA. It is closer. There is little good reason to produce stuff on the other side of the planet on purpose. Every single major means of shipping them around the planet burns up fossil fuel which increase over time.
In many Chinese companies, a college graduate gets $18,00 a year. A year! How much is an entry level graduate in US is getting? $35,000-$40,000. Margin people, margin.
[probably $18,000
]
People aren't margin. The number of people impact margin. An easy access box with straightforward construction box could be largely assembled by robots. Robots make $0.0 /yr in salary. Top that with Chinese worker (you can't. ).
The same clean wiring , easily accessible with hands/fingers that a Mac Pro has helps increase the ease of assembly too.
There is no way you can do "throw cheap transient rural workers at the problem" manufacturing in the USA and compete with China. But that actually isn't the issue. There is no requirement that the maximum number of human workers be utilized to make a Mac.
Sherman set the 'Way-Back' machine to 1990 ....
http://www.nytimes.com/1990/12/24/b...nt-lacks-is-orders.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm
One of the primary problems with the NeXT factory was that it didn't have sustainable demand for product; not that the construction of the machines couldn't be automated. Technology has advanced over the last 23 years. The robots are better and the automation smarter.
Will the number of folks employed translate 1:1 to the USA. No. Frankly, the Chinese construction and manufacturing practices don't particularly try to be efficient in use of human "capital". Their unemployment problems are higher than the USA (after you dig though the hocus-pocus the Chinese government layers on that they don't have one).
Apple can afford to go local because of its ability to charge above standard pricing.
Or they could just be smarter about solving the manufacturing problem.
That actually seems to be a bigger hurdle to getting more manufacturing shifted back to the USA; the dilbertesque "Pointy head boss" middle management that myopically look at worker salary wage rates to move manufacturing around.
Walmart, HP, Dell, Nike cannot do that.
Cannot? LOL. HP and Dell do build some boxes in the USA. Nike cannot largely because they don't want to. Walmart does sell made in the USA products ( but yeah..... their preoccupation with squeezing margins without regard for worker's rights and environment leads them to places were workers and their environment get pissed on to make Walmart some extra money. )
