Foxconn: Apple Has Capacity to Make All US-Bound iPhones Outside of China if Needed

Headline: "Foxconn: Apple Has Capacity to Make All US-Bound iPhones Outside of China if Needed"

The buried lede: "They'll pick a different low-wage country instead."

(You might infer from the headline that they'll simply make a US-bound iPhone in, I dunno, the US. Nope.)

They’re not stupid. That would double the price of a $1000 device

Headline: "Foxconn: Apple Has Capacity to Make All US-Bound iPhones Outside of China if Needed"

The buried lede: "They'll pick a different low-wage country instead."

(You might infer from the headline that they'll simply make a US-bound iPhone in, I dunno, the US. Nope.)

Good for Apple. Must have been Tim Cook supply chain guru that positioned them so well for this.

Headline: "Foxconn: Apple Has Capacity to Make All US-Bound iPhones Outside of China if Needed"

The buried lede: "They'll pick a different low-wage country instead."

(You might infer from the headline that they'll simply make a US-bound iPhone in, I dunno, the US. Nope.)

Good for them. Would you pay $10 for something you can get for $5? No. It makes no logical sense.

Headline: "Foxconn: Apple Has Capacity to Make All US-Bound iPhones Outside of China if Needed"

The buried lede: "They'll pick a different low-wage country instead."

(You might infer from the headline that they'll simply make a US-bound iPhone in, I dunno, the US. Nope.)

i don't understand. Why would anyone expect them to be made in the US when they could be made in many other cheaper countries instead?

Do you always pay extra for nationalism?

in particular, I'd expect them to be made in Vietnam. I don't expect them to be made in India, due to that countries protectionist trade policies.

If only it were as easily done as it is said. If new tariffs on China start on July 1, it would take Foxconn months to shift production from China to India. Additionally, they would have to retool new factories for the 2019 versions of the iPhone in the midst of the production line move, as I’m sure the retooling process has already started in China. Foxconn is not going to spend all this money without charging Apple for it, and that charge will be enormous.

The new tariffs going in effect on July 1 would severely damage the Apple’s 2019 holiday season sales. There will be a shortage of Indian-made iPhones for the holiday season, and the Chinese made iPhones would be significantly more expensive due to the tariffs.

Let’s hope Tim has negotiated to save Apple from the tariffs, as it won’t be pretty if the Apple products become subject to the tariffs. Tim is playing with fire, being so nonchalant about what may be a serious hit to the future of Apple and being unprepared for what’s about to come even though he was warned about it over 2 1/2 years ago. Had he heeded the warnings then, Apple would have been much better positioned now to weather the trade war with China.

What you miss here is that Apple owns the tooling and can easily ship the tooling to any other factory. So down time would be very limited. Not to mention that Apple already has factories established in other areas with the current tooling.

It also already has inventory of phones in the US that would help to bridge any gap in those timelines. That is what smart supply chain/inventory management does.

Apple can make this change at the drop of a hat.