Shortages of Components and Labor Affecting iPhone and iPad Production?

Maybe Apple should open up a factory in the US. Plenty of unemployment over here!

Maybe Apple should open up a factory in the US. Plenty of unemployment over here!

Good idea, won't happen though (sadly) :(

+1

Id love Apple to be a positive example of American made electronics. Id definitely feel more at ease to paying their higher prices, if so.

1) For the ipad you are not paying higher prices. Competitors are struggling to match the ipad's price and feature ratio.

2) That would not solve the availability of components. It's a shortage

3) All products would become more expensive if produced in the US.
Even when people say, I would pay more, they usually don't!

4) This discussion was already held in other threads. Many of the US laws are not conducive to building factories here.
By the time a State or area would be done with just the environmental review other countries built the plant already.
Add capital gains taxes, unions etc. etc. and you'll know why these plants are not here.

5) The type of labor the assembly of millions of pieces requires is not available in the US. (See Cato Institute studies)
The higher education workers will not do these jobs. The lower education workers we don't want near these jobs.
The majority of manual labor is almost in the hands of the hispanic community, who do this well.
(On a sarcastic note, ask an American worker to lift a few heavy boxes and they'll call OSHA to have it automated or pass a regulation)

"Buy American or produce American" is a patriotic phantasy and doesn't account for the fact that Americans have many jobs in importing and exporting, as well as work internationally. If all the countries would isolate themselves only doing "home based" production, innovation would stifle and we'd go backwards.

The concept of FREE enterprise should apply to everybody all over the world.

The business world is now heavily integrated and in the very end it's all about money and profits and share prices.

Nobody pays anybody for being "nice" and giving jobs!

Reality hurts:-)

Maybe Apple should open up a factory in the US. Plenty of unemployment over here!

+1

Id love Apple to be a positive example of American made electronics. Id definitely feel more at ease to paying their higher prices, if so.

Respectfully, I dont think so. Apple already has very high profit margins...more so than most competition. That 30% profit margin could be lessoned to facilitate American made goods and the additional cost associated with them. All that said, Im not coming from this with a financial argument, more so a moral one. I think it would be wonderful if Apple made the decision to support more American jobs (not that they dont provide many currently).

I'm not sure why it's a moral argument. Disclaimer, I'm a jingoistic pro-American extreme right wing nutjob. I want America to succeed - but I want that to happen because we're the best and have created the true advantageous position through merit and not trickery.

That said, I don't understand why I should want someone in China to be unemployed just so an American can have a job. They're human beings with families to feed. I also don't necessarily want my children to toil away in a factory. I feel bad for the Chinese that have to.

The email I just got for an ipad order, and it was supposed to ship today:


MC770LL/A, IPAD WI-FI 32GB BLACK-USA
will now ship on or before
May 26, 2011

Please note that product availability can change rapidly, and it is
possible that your order may ship much sooner than we anticipate. You
may even receive a shipment confirmation between the time we send this
email and the time that you read it.

You will receive an email notification once your order has been shipped.
We encourage you to visit: <http://www.apple.com/orderstatus>.

We appreciate your business and apologize for any inconvenience this
delay may have caused you.

The Apple Store For Education

But what is wrong with stimulating another country's economy? Are we all to be self-sufficient isolationists? If it is possible and preferable, then fine. But if cheaper products are available elsewhere, why shouldn't we prefer it?

When you pay less for an iPad, you have more money to buy something else.

It has nothing to with being isolationists. If the American economy fails do you think China is going to reach out its loving hand to you and help pick you up. Is China going to help stimulate our economy? We need to take care of ourselves first and foremost because nobody else will. Its not being an isolationist its helping our people. Just like all these Celebs who goto Africa and pour millions into the poor in Africa when we have starving people dying in the streets here in the USA. I think all these bleeding hearts forget that we have Americans here who need food, jobs, and HOPE. Not false hope real hope. Apple bringing its production facilities back to the USA would bring a lot of nice High tech jobs for someone in the Tech field who is looking to get a foot in the door or some experience.

The problem with US manufacturing has always been Union demands. Period.com end of story. Why do you think the rust belt also contained the most amount of Unionized workers. Union workers blackmailing was replaced by Outsourced cheap labor with questionable QC and products.

Wow, I never new it was so simpul. Some moron with a degree from some elite edumacated college was trying to tell me it was do to stuffs like exchange rate, standurd of living differents, child labur laws and other stuffs like dat! Thank u for fixin that!

Bring back them middle class sweatshop jobs back to the US!!!

That is easy. Yes, I would. One company needs to make the bold move and others will follow. I only picked Apple because they basically sell everything they make so they would provide more jobs and they are a leader in the industry and it would make news for others to follow. I think it would be cool if Dell did this because they are a high volume and well known name.

There is no guarantee that they will always sell everything they sell. ( I hope so, but competition will always be there)

And, let's say they don't what then?
Factories shouldn't be built based on thinking it will go on positively forever.
I think the US auto industry has demonstrated that clearly.

People act as if owning a factory is easy. (I actually own a small factory, so I know it's not.
I am in a niche field and easily compete with the Far East))

Apple would have to add substantial personnel to manage such a place, which takes away from what they really want to do. (Build great devices people want to buy)

It is far easier NOT to own a factory. You buy whatever you need at an agreed upon price when you need it. And when you don't have anything you need, you don't have a factory and workers to worry about.

If you have issues with your suppliers you work with them to fix them or you go to another manufacturer.

Try that with your own place. QC is bad, get another manager, QC is still bad get another one etc.

You are never in the driver's seat when you own a factory!

The overall wages workers would be paid aren't even the problem. The administration, laws, unions, taxes etc. are what makes it undesirable to own a factory.

Plus, any slightest mishap or work issue would be on the front pages of all the magazines.

Apple is a smart company , hence no factory in the US!

It has nothing to with being isolationists. If the American economy fails do you think China is going to reach out its loving hand to you and help pick you up. Is China going to help stimulate our economy? We need to take care of ourselves first and foremost because nobody else will. Its not being an isolationist its helping our people. Just like all these Celebs who goto Africa and pour millions into the poor in Africa when we have starving people dying in the streets here in the USA. I think all these bleeding hearts forget that we have Americans here who need food, jobs, and HOPE. Not false hope real hope. Apple bringing its production facilities back to the USA would bring a lot of nice High tech jobs for someone in the Tech field who is looking to get a foot in the door or some experience.

Where is assembling ipads/iphones a high tech job, short of some plant managers and bulky administrative jobs ?

Did you see the pictures from Foxconn factories?

And what if there is not enough work for that factory? Why would Apple want to own a factory with all it's problems?

Your view is somewhat simplified. China (and other nations) are propping up the US. They are the ones buying the bonds.

The US is spending more than it takes in, every time budgets get cut "education" is first and in general they have been borrowing money from around the world in what seems forever.

It's dependency on oil with an unwillingness to invest in alternative energy to an extend that matters, causes ever growing deficits.

The consumer votes with his/her dollars at Walmart etc.

Of the many people that suffer in the streets a large percentage is unemployable or they may live in areas not even close to a plant.

Just how many plants is one supposed to build?

The purpose of a business is to make profits, not to do the morally right thing. Sounds cold, but is true.

For many years the US was isolated and thinking that due to it's size it can do everything their way.

Many US industries have been lost to people with foresight and creativity.

By not looking at the "world" the didn't realize they would have to adapt.

Too late now!