Where are you getting this stuff? iPhone screens are made in Kentucky and shipped to China for installation:
http://www.kentucky.com/2012/04/16/2152727/harrodsburg-product-at-heart-of.html
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"Made in USA"
- Thread starter calaverasgrande
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Where are you getting this stuff? iPhone screens are made in Kentucky and shipped to China for installation:
http://www.kentucky.com/2012/04/16/2152727/harrodsburg-product-at-heart-of.html
I also think that a strong country is very important. My thoughts are on this general topic increasingly as I've seen numerous businesses close in my area (as I'm sure they have in various parts of the nation) that had been around for years. America is still a great country and I for one would like to see it prosper in every respect (and I don't just mean financially). Manufacturing things in this country again -- instead of outsourcing everything -- is just a small part of how that will get done.
Good for you! Perhaps if we all made a point to buy U.S. made (or in this case, U.S. assembled) products as much as possible (yes, I know that's probably not the easiest thing to do what with so many products being imported these days), then maybe companies would take notice when their imported goods don't get bought and start bringing the manufacturing jobs back here. I don't think corporations should bear full responsibility for the way things have gone in this country. A lot of it is our doing -- the consumers, in our constant search for the lowest price -- that has also contributed to this cycle. I think perhaps a combination of high corporate taxation of U.S.-based businesses, the tendency of corporations to seek to lower their bottom line, and the tendency of consumers to do the same, has a lot to do with lower job availability in this country -- in the manufacturing sector and otherwise. Yes I'm sure there are other factors, but it seems these three factors are among them.
Yes, hopefully. I think it was a smart move on Apple's part and while I have no immediate plans to buy nMP, their decision to assemble in the U.S. would have worked in their favor -- or at the very least would have merited more serious consideration of the nMP -- if I had been in the market.
Yes I'd rather buy an American made product. This poll is probably skewed since some users are not from the U.S. and will obviously vote as such.
Obviously this is a good first step even though a lot of the parts are not made here. Eventually Apple can see how it goes with the Mac Pro, and maybe bring more manufacturing here.
10-20 years from now, I think a huge portion of Apple products will be made/assembled here. It's only a matter of time.
Japan would also be a good place for manufacturing and assembly. USA has a bad reputation in the last several decades with lazy workers, uninspired design, faulty manufacturing, and greedy execs. It's going to change, but it's going to take time.
Obviously this is a good first step even though a lot of the parts are not made here. Eventually Apple can see how it goes with the Mac Pro, and maybe bring more manufacturing here.
10-20 years from now, I think a huge portion of Apple products will be made/assembled here. It's only a matter of time.
Japan would also be a good place for manufacturing and assembly. USA has a bad reputation in the last several decades with lazy workers, uninspired design, faulty manufacturing, and greedy execs. It's going to change, but it's going to take time.
I seriously doubt that. I work in a not dissimilar industry, with even higher margins and lower volumes (mobile scientific instruments). We produce all in Asia, with some limited chip production here in the U.S. One, "all that shipping involved" is peanuts compared to production costs, especially for something diminutive like the nMP. Two, while it is true naturally that wages have risen in China somewhat it still doesn't compare. I know of no other companies who are doing this, except in rare cases (Google Glass).
The story is a smoke screen, pure and simple. In the case of the nMP, with the lower volumes compared to their other products it makes the most sense to build it here, but the promo video Apple put out clearly demonstrates their interest in promoting the "Made in USA" label.
More and More iMacs assembled in the USA
We've been seeing quite a few iMac CTOs over the last six months or so ship to us from the USA - from here in California.
Check this article out from about a year ago: http://techcrunch.com/2012/12/03/the-new-imac-designed-by-apple-in-california-assembled-in-usa/
We've been seeing quite a few iMac CTOs over the last six months or so ship to us from the USA - from here in California.
Check this article out from about a year ago: http://techcrunch.com/2012/12/03/the-new-imac-designed-by-apple-in-california-assembled-in-usa/
They wouldn't be doing it if they were losing money vs. using Hon Hai Precision as they have in the more recent past for the MP.
Just a few "BS" articles for you...
Born in the USA
Jobs 'Insourcing' Gets Another Boost from Starbucks
What's behind enterprise insourcing of IT?
Insourcing at GE: The Real Story
Everything You Need to Know About Insourcing
You may not have seen it first hand or believe it, but it's happening. But not due to a "feel good" mentality or nationalism, but due to economics.
That said, as I mentioned in my previous post, if a company believes that touting "Made in USA", "Assembled in USA", or similar, they're going to play the crap out of that in their marketing strategies for all it's worth.
I am very happy that the nMP is assembled in the USA and hope more corporations follow suit.
Did it affect my buying decision? Nope. It was time to retire my 2008 Pro, so I would have bought one anyway.
Did it affect my buying decision? Nope. It was time to retire my 2008 Pro, so I would have bought one anyway.
Don't need to show me articles, as I mentioned I see first hand limited re-shoring in my industry and others (Google Glass devices are all made here). It's a token efforts folks, the vast bulk of manufacturing (95%++) is overseas and will remain that way for the foreseeable future.
As far as the new Mac Pro goes, these appear to take very little assembly work. Certainly nothing like the iPhone (which takes a lot of hand work), so I'm sure Apple decided it made economic and especially marketing sense. They got too much bad Foxconn factory press. Which is really stupid, people want cheap electronics, then they bleat about the massive factories necessary to give it to them.
I'm re-quoting you to show that you claimed PR was the primary reasoning, not economics. And that moving production to the US was a cost increase, not decrease.
The way I read this, is you still wouldn't believe that it's based on economics (still cheaper to build in China), calling it a smokescreen.
So I linked some articles that illustrated otherwise.
This gives me the impression you're shifting gears from the first two posts.
Now in the sense that insourcing is going to be massive, and put lots and lots (i.e. Millions) of semi-skilled labor back to work in good paying jobs... NOT GOING TO HAPPEN. Never indicated this was the case, but am making it perfectly clear.
It's only occurring with niche cases where they can use automation to replace the vast majority of employees needed for the semi-skilled production models.
All this said, I do expect this was primarily a miscommunication.
But I felt I had to point out that it's one of the instances where the conditions are just right for moving production back to the US actually does make financial sense. Particularly when I saw your comments that indicated PR and/or even could be inferred slightly having political connotations.Things that are made in the USA tend to be made in states whose economy I have no desire to support.
This gives me the impression you're shifting gears from the first two posts.
No, but I didn't say everything I was thinking in the first post.
The question by its nature is political
Actually we agree, it is a monetary issue. I bet you they would save more production costs by having these made in China, but they recoup it on the PR side, thereby strengthening the brand and making more money overall. Plus you have to consider the start-up costs, Apple has many lines already in China, it costs a lot of start up capital (the most expensive) to bring up a brand new isolated line in Texas.
It's not worth arguing. I'll just say that I've worked in these kinds of production lines (engineering side) for 20 years. Just looking at the engineering resources, cost here about $150-$200k/year. Over there? Less than half that. You have to include overhead by the way, managers, floor space, regulatory costs, it all adds up.
Is "Made In The USA" really a stamp of quality? If I want well-built, high quality electronics or mechanical items, I buy German, Swiss, Austrian, or Japanese produced ones...
Take power tools, NOTHING is better than Hilti or Würth.
What about watches, duh - Swiss.
Camera equipment - Japanese.
I could go on. Cars, Hi-Fi, etc.
Take power tools, NOTHING is better than Hilti or Würth.
What about watches, duh - Swiss.
Camera equipment - Japanese.
I could go on. Cars, Hi-Fi, etc.
But I can't read minds!
Apple doesn't own any of the production lines though. They're owned by companies such as Hon Hai Precision, Quantas, and others that obtain Apple's production contracts (if not the engineering as well that sits inside Apple's Industrial Designs).
So that "startup capital", is borne by the contractors, not Apple.
Overall, the costs do add up. But what you've listed doesn't include everything. Not even close in fact.
For example, you've skipped the impact incurred due to things such as the losses due to defective units and a lack of proper QC. It's possible to get better standards, such as placing you're own people on their lines as QC inspectors with more than just a Hi-POT test, but that adds to the cost. There's also the cost that results in the slower ability to rectify production issues (cheap parts that no one in management will allow to be pulled and discarded in either company), that eats into support hours, or an increase in defect percentages that must be eaten by the primary company.
NRE's may not differ as much as expected between nations, relative to the number of units produced.
FWIW, I also have electronic manufacturing experience, though it may not be the same as yours (started in defense, moved to enterprise/industrial; some consumer, but not nearly as much as the previous two).
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There are some components used in it that are produced in the US based on the articles that covered the nMP being produced in TX, but there's no statement as to how much in terms of percentage.
But given the rules involved for a product to qualify as "Made in USA", it's not enough to meet the regulations (a tad vague, and there are exceptions, such as the content of automobiles or textiles), but in general, content as well as assembly must be primarily of US origin.
I picked no cuz I want one really really bad but wont be getting one even if its made on the moon.
If it were any other product, I would have picked "yes, it made me more likely to buy it".
But Apple just flat out crapped all over everyone who wanted a mac that could be usable without tons of wires hanging off of it, or the ability to upgrade the video card (so far). So my desire for a mac pro dropped to 0, so no... no effect on my purchasing decision at all.
But Apple just flat out crapped all over everyone who wanted a mac that could be usable without tons of wires hanging off of it, or the ability to upgrade the video card (so far). So my desire for a mac pro dropped to 0, so no... no effect on my purchasing decision at all.
I'm happy you got crapped on. I hope they crap on the people who don't want a larger iPhone next.
Considering the quality of us made cars I had (and still have) fear of the typical bad quality. The us is not really known for high quality manufacturing.
This anecdote has nothing to do with computer build quality. It's like saying, US raised beef is low quality compared to wagyu, therefore, I fear the quality of US raised chicken. Computer manufacturing, especially since it's an in-house Apple factory, is by no means relevant to the manufacturing of automobiles or the US-based companies that make them.
Truthfully, there's nothing wrong with the quality of Chinese or other factories. Foxconn, et al already make pretty much everything we use in consumer electronics. The "made in China" poor quality misconception lies largely with the questionable quality in some of the other product sectors with much lower margins, not electronics. So while there isn't necessarily a quality benefit to having the nMP made stateside, I appreciate the jobs created and Apple's efforts to help the local economy.