Apple iPhones are Designed in California, But Assembled in China

Chinese manufacturing sector is perceived as a low-cost base by many. The popular conception is that manufacturers come to China allured by its cheap labour. But Tim Cook, Apple CEO recently narrated a different story. Addressing the Fortune Global Forum in Guangzhou in December 2020, he declared that there are other reasons too, why Apple is turning to China for making their products. Here is a quick read:-



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Why China?

  • Skilled Workforce: China has highly skilled labour in the manufacturing space and software development.
  • Advanced Technology:  China’s advanced technology combines craftsmanship, robotics and computer science. This intersection is very rare elsewhere.
  • Quantity of Skills: China has the facilities to manufacture hundreds of millions of units in a single entity.
  • Skilled Vocational Talent: The skilled talents enable manufacturing the goods with a quality of zero defects. 
  • Support for Innovation: iOS App Store presents the most innovative mobile app in the world. Chinese application developers, numbering almost two million, who write apps for the iOS have a nose for innovation.  The entrepreneurs who run them too are some of the most inspiring in the world.
  • Advanced Tooling Techniques: Apple products call for advanced and precision tooling skills. China has vast number of tooling engineers with deep tooling skills.

Conclusion:

Once China used to be a destination for low-cost labour. But according to Tim Cook, that concept has changed. From supply point of view, it is the quantity, quality, precision at work and concentration (at one place) of skills that make China the favourite manufacturing hub.

Postscript

From supply’s points of view, it is not the cheap labour which always counts. What are the parameters that determine efficient supplies? Check out our program @ https://online.ifheindia.org/.

Key Words

#iPhones#low cost labour#iOS app store#skilled labour#technology

Source Article

Glen Lebowitz, July 2021. Apple CEO Tim Cook: This Is the No. 1 Reason We Make iPhones in China (It’s Not What You Think).Inc.July 2021.

Discussion Question

List our three parameters wherein, you feel, India has an edge over China in manufacturing Apple products? Give Reasons?