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Apple Corps

macrumors 68030
Apr 26, 2003
2,575
542
California
Ignoring the 20-some-odd years that Apple manufactured products in the U.S. is a pretty big nit. Sorry to ruin your hyperoble.

My opinion is that it is a pretty small nit. Were those 20 years the ones where we saw Apple losing money and about to go out of business?

Sorry to ruin your hyperbole.
 

thewitt

macrumors 68020
Sep 13, 2011
2,102
1,523
My opinion is that it is a pretty small nit. Were those 20 years the ones where we saw Apple losing money and about to go out of business?

Sorry to ruin your hyperbole.

Nothing ruined.

Apple has far more US jobs today than it has ever had - far exceeding those few manufacturing jobs it attempted to preserve in California.

In case you didn't read my post, they went from roughly 2000 US employees to over 50,000 US employees today.

They were able to do this ONLY because they changed from an expensive and difficult to change over manufacturing line running in California, to a much more cost effective and flexible outsourced manufacturing model.

There could not compete without going abroad.

They outsourced nothing relative to their growth.

Apple had a net gain of over 48,000 US jobs, though this fact eludes you.
 

kdarling

macrumors P6
Apple has far more US jobs today than it has ever had - far exceeding those few manufacturing jobs it attempted to preserve in California.

Yet how many more technical jobs in those 20 years, compared to other US tech companies?

The majority of Apple employees in the US work at Apple stores.

Even that number is tiny compared to many other top US retailers earning in the tens of billions each year, who each employ far more Americans than Apple does.

They were able to do this ONLY because they changed from an expensive and difficult to change over manufacturing line running in California, to a much more cost effective and flexible outsourced manufacturing model.

Adding all those sales jobs didn't require going overseas for manufacturing.

What probably helped most, is that Apple doesn't pay sales commissions.
 

snberk103

macrumors 603
Oct 22, 2007
5,503
91
An Island in the Salish Sea
Yet how many more technical jobs in those 20 years, compared to other US tech companies?...
I'm willing to bet, without looking it up, that Apple currently employs more people at their HQs and company owned data centres (so... no retail jobs) than the company employed in total in 1996 when Jobs returned. I am willing to be corrected if you can find, with links, data that refutes my statement.
....
What probably helped most, is that Apple doesn't pay sales commissions.

In your eyes, is that a good thing or a bad thing?

---

What annoys me most about these kinds of threads is the 'American navel gazing'. America didn't see the global trends that free trade made possible, and was surprised by the geographic shift in jobs. Other countries as well, to be fair.

However, some nations - many of whom had free-trade imposed on them by the US - saw the writing on the wall, and instead of fighting free-trade grabbed it by the horns, wrestled it to the ground, and made free-trade work for them. They started to out compete the big manufacturing nations, including the US. Germany saw what was coming, and went into automation big time. Canada kinda saw it, so some of our factories are booming. But we have the raw resources to sell to whomever has the factories. Plus we kept our banks intact by making follow some basic rules.

If the US wants those jobs back, then it needs to compete for them... just like Foxconn competed for the jobs in the 1st place.

And - No! I do not want to pay more for an Apple product just so that non-competitive Americans can have a job.
 

Apple Corps

macrumors 68030
Apr 26, 2003
2,575
542
California
snberk103 - you have hit the nail on the head. Too many Americans feeling entitled to a job.

Try to find skilled craftsmen to work on your house. They pull up in a detailed pickup with bling bling 22" wheels, tats all over their arms, a pierced eyebrow, tools in their chromed box and they can't measure properly, don't know the concept of square, plumb, true lines.

I had one of these "craftsman" trying to install the top of the line Bosch dishwasher - he was on the installation instructions in French. So I asked him where he learned to read French - I don't read - I just look at the pictures :eek:

Headed back for the 3d time to get it right.
 

dmelgar

macrumors 68000
Apr 29, 2005
1,588
168
Always amazed at this jobs in America attitude. Its backwards. A sense of entitlement. That companies should just give americans money for the sake of society. Its a fundamental misunderstanding of economics and capitalism.

Whats the alternative?
Buy Samsung product so that all the money goes over seas? All the labor, research and development and profit?

Apple makes a profit because they can make the best products at the lowest cost possible. The most important money is coming to the US.
If Apple were to pay higher prices to be built in the US for no other reason, it would lower profit, or lower quality, or cause the price to be raised.
In the first case, Apple would have less money for R&D and their own incentive. In the latter two, consumers would be MORE likely to go with an all foreign competitor such as Samsung or HTC or LG.
 
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