The sad reality is that today's politicians can engender broad support by issuing sweeping statements on topics and issues they really know nothing. While these examples are many, today we will focus on statements that Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders made about Apple in recent months.
During the US presidential campaign underway, both Trump and Sanders have issued statements calling for Apple to begin manufacturing the iPhone in the US. Trump was particularly authoritarian rather on the issue, saying that if elected president he would ensure that Apple "built their pesky computers in this country."
DO NOT MISS: Tesla just start selling two cheapest sedan Model S
Although these proclamations sound good, they basically ignore a number of economic realities. Even if we ignore the fact that most major Chinese manufacturing outsourcing hardware companies, calling for Apple to move its plants in the United States shows a shocking lack of awareness and understanding regarding the economic realities that govern mass production of consumer electronics.
We will come back in a second, but first, Konstantin Kakaes of MIT Technology Review conducted a little thought experiment and imagine what would really change if Apple followed the advice of Trump and Sanders.
in a scenario that imagines Apple components outsourcing abroad and assembly of the iPhone in the US, Kakaes writes that the iPhone retail price could rise to about 5%, but that this would have a negligible impact on the US economy.
What benefits would it do to the United States? Apple says its suppliers employ more than 1.6 million workers. But the final assembly of phones represents a small fraction of that. So even if Apple could persuade Foxconn or other provider to assemble the iPhones in the United States without cutting into their profits too bad, this one probably not as transformative as Trump Sanders and involve.
In another scenario, Kakaes details what would happen if Apple not only made the iPhone in the United States but from all components in the country.
According to Professor Jason Dedrick of Syracuse University, such a plan would be, at minimum, add more than $ 40 to the cost of production.
Initially, at least, "US factories are not competitive for most of these products and to operate at low volumes, increasing the gap with Asia even higher," said Dedrick out . But it's safe to project, he said, that in this scenario would be a phone 100 to $ more expensive, assuming that the raw materials used in the components were purchased on world markets.
You can check the full versions of Kakaes of hypotheticals via the source link below, but there are some other important points are worth mentioning.
to start, US factories are not built to accommodate the level of specialized production needed to manufacture the iPhone to scale. It is important to remember that Foxconn and other Chinese-based manufacturers have plants that are designed from the ground up to manage all facets of a very granular manufacturing process. Moreover, these factories employ hundreds, if not thousands of employees with specialized and unique skills that simply can not be found to the same extent in the United States.
Illustrating why the mobile manufacture in the United States simply isn 't a rational idea, remember this text New York Times a few years back:
"The supply chain is in China now," said another former Apple executive rank high. "You need a thousand rubber gaskets? That's the factory next door. You need a million screws? That factory is a block away. You need that screw made a little different ? It will take three hours. "
Indeed, Tim Cook discussed the same subject at a 60 Minutes interview late last year.
China has put a huge emphasis on manufacturing, "Cook said." The US, over time, began to stop having so many professional skills such. I mean, you can take all the tool and die maker in the US and probably put in a room we are sitting in now. In China, you must have multiple football fields. "
All that said, politicians can talk about moving the production to the United States all need, but the economic realities of the signal output iPhone, quite strongly, that these promises are at best empty.
[ad_2]
Source link
0 comments:
Post a Comment