Apple Reportedly Seeking to Move Significantly More Production From China to India

You need new material.

 

iPhone and affordable in the same sentence? Apple generates $50 Billion in profit annually and has more cash reserves than it can spend on R and D or other investments most of which is held outside the US to shelter from taxation.

That Austin plant for Apple? About 7,000 employees. Foxconn in China? Closer to 1.5 million.

I’m on an IPhone right now and I prefer it but Apple is front and center a microcosm of the wealth disparity in this country. Outsourced the blue collar jobs to create obscene profits and excess cash that benefits only shareholders who are far and away the 1%.

Bring those jobs back and maybe earn $25 billion in profits would go a long way to recreate the blue collar middle class in this country. Yeah the stock price would fall which again primarily hurts the 1% who don’t trickle it down anyway.

 

Would you be willing to pay 2-4x as much for that iPhone to have it manufactured here? And if so, what other companies and jobs would you then not be supporting as a result?

People don't seem to get that spending is finite. If you spend more on one thing, that's great for the employees of that company - but it means you are not spending on plenty of other things that could be helping other employees of other companies. Paying more for the same item doesn't actually help anyone in the big picture.

 

Agreed. It's the most overrated over priced product imaginable. $1000 to take dinner pictures

Really I was just speaking on capitalism

 

Is that all you use your phone for? Taking dinner pictures?

 

India has a solid technology sector and the educated Indians almost all speak English. Actually, I would be very surprised to meet one there who was college educated and didn't. I think it would be a good diversification move on Apple's part. I think a lot of people in our country might associate India with the often lousy "support" services farmed out there, but the truth is that in a country of 1 billion people, you'll find a heck of a lot of talent Apple could tap into.

I think it's an excellent move for Apple. Why not?

Absolutely agree about the Indian media, and I think Apple would be wise to look into Vietnam as well for diversification possibilities. You underestimate India's enormous educated class, however. Knock me over with a feather if they don't have far more college educated citizens than Vietnam does.

Does India have a corruption problem? Yes. Does China? Yes. Does your average college educated Chinese citizen speak English? I seriously doubt that. That's not to say that some don't, because some do, but it isn't nearly universal like it is in India. I spent a couple of months there in the 1960's and was impressed. Believe me, the poverty then was far more prevalent than it is now. At least today India has a middle class. It would be good for our relations with India to have some major manufacturers like Apple open plants there.

China's bellicose expansionism is not only in the South and East China Seas, where they are hell bent on stealing the resources of the other countries that surround it. They are also making moves to threaten India in the seas surrounding that country, and practically giving away arms to Pakistan in return for being able to have what they hope becomes a major naval base. Sure, Pakistan will be presented a bill at some point, but at the moment, they don't care. That's to the west of India. In case anyone has forgotten, Pakistan and India are bitter enemies who have fought several times over the years.

To the east? China has literally purchased a major new port on the coast of Sri Lanka that was built largely by China with a $1.5 billion dollar loan China "gave" the country for that purpose. Guess what? It's losing money, which is not what China predicted when they proposed the deal to the Sri Lankan government. So in order to "forgive" $1 billion of that loan for a port Sri Lanka didn't need, the country has given China a 99 year lease for the entire thing. Don't be surprised if the Chinese navy starts using that port. China did essentially the same thing "for" Pakistan, and Chinese warships have begun making port calls.

Meanwhile, China threatens India to the north.

We should encourage Apple to invest in India. Why? Because it is in our interest to do so.

 

Hey is that some ugly girl dressed as superman in your avatar or is that your own personal mug shot from Halloween?

 

It's Nick Cage dude.

 

This is an important factor in the issue of decoupling from the PRC. Even the experts who are advocating it also are saying it will take years if not decades to do it and the PRC will always be a major player. This issue is also far more complicated than just taking manufacturing contracts from the PRC. The PRC isn't just a giant sweatshop anymore to make things cheap. It's the World's largest market and one reason it wields so much power is that US businesses want to sell there. As Tinman brings up they were mean to Morey but the Rockets organization, NBA and many players tried to make nice to the PRC because they want to continue to market the NBA within the PRC.

I agree with Tinman that the PRC are overly sensitive and it was petty go to after Morey and the rest of the NBA but the NBA is a business and they've made lots of money from the PRC. I'm pretty sure the NBA is both happy to make their merchandise cheap in the PRC and also sell their product to Chinese fans. As we see they don't want to risk that and no matter how much we as fans might complain I'm pretty sure they will be happy to be back in the PRC even after this latest crisis.

 

And China is only keeping a fraction of the cost of an iphone. Apple shareholders, which includes millions of middle class pensioners and/or investors get far more of the profits than China ever does.

Even if we brought the "iphone factories" to America, who is building these phones? People seem to underestimate the skilled labor and supply chains needed to deliver tens of millions of products (which are very complex and well built). Blue collar middle class america isn't prepared for 21st century jobs on a large enough scale.

 

Major I think you and I and a handful of other are the only posters who still believe in free trade.

People like to portray free trade as corporations just wiping out jobs for obscene profits without understanding that there is a consumer benefit to trade. We haven't had an issue with inflation really since the 1970's and that happens to coincide with the massive growth in trade including outsourcing. Just throwing up tariffs and other protectionist practices has pretty much always been a long term loser. In the long run it just makes your country less competitive, raises prices and makes your country poorer. Also the idea from the Left that free trade inevitably leads to greater income inequality and the erosion of the social safety net isn't necessarily true. There are countries like Sweden and Singapore that are very dependent on trade yet have addressed income inequality and have very strong social safety nets.

 

I'm a strong supporter of free trade. I think trump's "tariff war" not only with China, but with some of our friends and allies is an act of madness. Also, check out the edit above that I made to my post in order to respond to @adoo. You might find it interesting.

 

Yes I saw your post and was going to reply but got distracted.

I agree with you that India has a large and well educated class of people. Given it's sheer size there is no shortage of skilled labor and certainly the people are there to manufacture Iphones and other hi tech. I apologize if I sound like I'm bashing India but if the reasons for moving to India are to escape corruption and poor conditions that lead to disease outbreaks India is mostly a lateral move.

I understand your concern regarding the expansionist policies of the PRC as a reason we might be more interested in India geopolitically but that doesn't mean India is all that innocent. The current Indian government is both extremely nationalist and also very religious. Under Modi India has become less democratic and certainly isn't the vision of a tolerant and progressive society that Gandhi and Nehru wanted. Sectarian and religious conflict have gotten worse in India and the majority Hindu treatment of minority religions isn't good and getting worse.

Taking Tinman's main motivation I could easily see Modi and the BJP acting like Xi Jinping and the CCP if Morey tweeted something in defense of India's Muslim minority.

Leaving aside geopolitical issues India's infrastructure and development is still far behind the PRC. From a business standpoint the PRC is better positioned and capable as a manufacturing center than India is.

 

What do you do with your phone that makes it worth a $1000?

 

But you don't need that power. It may be worth the power but what mainframe computing are you doing on the phone

 

A lot more than take dinner pictures. In addition to using it as a phone, it is a camera, a gaming system, a TV, a movie platform, a computer, a GPS etc. All in the palm of my hand

 

Apple's net profits should tell yall how much the phone actually costs them

 

So is my $100 phone

You think I don't do that ish?