Even before the president of the United States Donald Trump having been elected, he already implied that Apple should produce iPhones on American soil and this speech still lives today.
One reason for supporting this idea, according to the president, would be the hope of creating more jobs for Americans. Although it is a noble cause, it may not be as effective as Tim culpan explained in an issue of Bloomberg.
It cannot be denied that the cost of labor in China influences the manufacture of goods per wool. However, the Bloomberg shed light on some data by showing that it represents only 2.2% from the final price of the iPhone. An indispensable factor in the manufacture of the handsets is the suppliers, which are located very close to the giant Foxconn factory located in Shenzhen and they simply have no representation outside of China or Taiwan. Thus, anywhere other than these two will require much greater movement of these components.
Even so, iPhones are manufactured here in Brazil to avoid the 30% import tax and, as recently announced, the handsets will also be manufactured in India to comply with the laws of the country. Although it is an interesting solution, it does not necessarily generate much more jobs, as not all activity is done in these factories.
In Brazil, very little has changed. Instead of doing full manufacturing in Brazil, Foxconn continued to do most of the work in China, where the supply chain was close and parts could be pre-assembled. This meant that most of an iPhone was [still] made in China and simply shipped to Brazil for local workers to dock. In the end, Brazil's project failed for two reasons: it hired fewer workers than the government expected and did not attract any of Apple's hundreds of suppliers.
This scenario, as Culpan explained, would be replicated in factories located in the US. In addition, even if Foxconn actually manufactures there, there is an intention to automate / robotize your entire assembly line which does not help in job creation.
Therefore, if the desire is to encourage the manufacture of iPhones in the US to increase the supply of jobs, a change of speech will be needed.
via 9to5Mac
