To peskaa
Now, I'm not doubting this in many ways. Apple do in fact do exactly what you're saying for their Mac Pros - they are sub-assembled in China, and then shipped to Cork in Ireland for final assembly. Critically, they then have the CK serial number starting code, unlike the W8 etc. of the Shanghai plants that all the rest of Apple's machines ship with.
Apple may do things in a slightlty different way to the rest of the PC manufacturing and I bow to your better knowledge of Apple. I am just guessing what they do from what nearly every other manufacturer does to reduce importation costs. I am not claiming to know every exact movement that Apple make. i am trying to show what is possible and what companies like Dell have done for years. I am sure though that Apple are taking advantage of the importation tax laws to their advantage so some assembbly be it cables and manuals are being done and maybe not HDD or Screens.
Logically, if Apple were doing this sub-assembly of their laptops in the EU they'd be using their existing production plant in Cork, and all the notebooks would have serial numbers starting in CK.
Why would they do that if the cost of shipping to Cork via a hub would cost more than just doing it in the Hub as most companies do?
Now, fitting minor changes, such as a RAM upgrade or a HDD (to an MBP), then yes.But not a full screen or similar.
Adding a screen is pretty simple does not take long.
They can also do the drop-in upgrades for items such as keyboards - as they're in a separate, country specific box. I would also place a significant bet that this takes place in the country of destination's distribution centre, not the main EU one.
Local distribution centres are too small to do this, insufficient throughput. These things are done at the main hub because of the volume. Of the 30,000 mac sold each day (3.2 million in the last quarter) how many do you think go to Austria? Do you think the 100 or so (at most) that would go would be a worthwhile or profitable business. Take it from me they are done in the main hub.
Because Apple's distribution doesn't use a single carrier from door to door. They have K&N who ship in large volume from China to the EU distribution centre, it then gets customs paperwork done electronically, and is then sent out to the destination country via another courier,
Maybe it is K&N who do the country personalization before distributing to the country couriers. This is equivalent to DHL arguement.
Look at the USA notebooks - they ship direct from China to the customer, via FedEx, and trackable at every step of the way with no stops for your fabled local assembly.
Sorry but the US is pretty easy to do as it is one country, it needs only one hub, it uses one keyboard configuration, one box, one cable, one version of the software and manual, etc. The US has a different tax code (which i do not know) which may not make a difference between a part and a finished good. Perhaps it is the same. It does not need a "fabled" assembly line
It is not 25 or so different countries that fall under the EU banner. Therefore to be able to do that needs a lot more organization. Maybe Apple does not customize with regard to hardware but Apple will take advantage of the EU importation tax laws. If this means putting them in boxes, adding the relevant cable then so be it. Maybe they do not do hardware, but my point is valid.
Apple's distribution is remarkably complex and very competent - they know exactly what machine is yours, where it is going, and which pallet it needs to be on at each stage of its journey.
Are you sure? Apple sells and produces over 30,000 units a day. Are you sure they know exactly where your order is in the assembly line? Or do they just take one off the line and make changes to it before they send it out as your order? I will bow to your greater knowledge, but I suspect the assembly line is not as complex as this, due to the difficulty in tracking, particularly if it just happens to be taken off for quality assurance checks.
Apple's other trick is to offer limited options. This means they can have lines churning out certain specifications - ie: an iMac with CPU A, and HDD A, and another churning out CPU A with HDD B.
Do you honestly think this is how it works? Look at a macbook pro 17", it has two CPU options, 2 Ram options, 5 hard drive options and 2 screen displays. That means you would need 40 lines or 20 lines (without screens). Do you think there is a factory in China with 20 Lines just for the Macbook Pro 17"?
This means they can ship in volume the machines, and only leave the very easy to swap items (such as RAM) as local installs. Take the 27" iMac as an example - they'll produce four models in China, the i5 with 1TB HD, the i5 with 2TB HD, the i7 with 1TB HD and the i7 with 2TB HD. All come with 4GB of RAM. Magically, that's suddenly accounted for all the possible BTO choices of the HD, because Apple don't let you pick anything else, such as 1.5TB.
So four assembly lines and the distribution of purchases for these models is 25% for each. Are you sure this is the case or might it be the case that one sells more than the others and changes are made somewhere else?
Apple basically cheat. They don't let you customise up the wazoo, which means 90% of customisation can be done on their lines en-masse. You may think you're unique buying one certain combination of config options, but rest assured, there's enough people out there buying exactly the same to allow Apple to produce batches of identical machines.
So how do they do the customization? You really think it can be done on assembly lines and that the assembly lines can keep track of your personalized machine? Would not count on it. if this was the case non-standard machines would be sent out in the same timeframe as standard machines.
Well done, you've magically just moved away from your previous statements of "screens" and laptop keyboards to the items that are easy drop-in changes that are external to the actual computer itself.
Have not moved away. Dell used DHL in the passed to install screens at there factory in Holland. Prior to the unibody design, changes to a keyborad was not so difficult.
Yes RAM and HD on laptops, but not on iMacs as you need to take the whole thing apart. No to laptop screens as again, you have to take the whole thing apart.
Only given examples, and nice to see that you agree.
Apple charge more because they always have done, and because people still pay for it, and it keeps their profit margins high.
Maybe, but it is also for the hassle of doing changes. They are with those prices trying to stop people customising and making their manufacturing process easier.
They still do a lot of customisation in China (I had a 27" iMac ship direct to me from China, fully BTO'd on a single flight thanks to Executive Relations, and it took 2 days - it couldn't have been BTO'd anywhere else but China).
I think the words Executive Relations answered your point there. It was not for us mere mortals.
So? What you're saying is a perfectly valid mechanism of producing laptops, but it isn't how Apple works.
Maybe it is not how apple work, but I think you might find that it is somewhere inbetween what you and I are saying. i will bow to your point of Apple not customizing hardware but I think youi will find that the accessories are added here in the EU.
