iPhone made in China is no better than the cotton from Xinjiang.<p>Earlier the reports are workers in the China iPhone factory had a protest and brutal conflict with the local police. Reasons varied from unbearable working condition, the zero-covid policy, and being deceived about the compensation. After the local police oppressed the campaign, the government assigned headcounts to local villages, demanding them to fill in the factory slots. No wonder Apple loves China so much.<p>Apple and many westerners never understand the risk and the ethics implication of doing business in China. Apple has utilized the cheap labor at a level where can never be possible in the civilized world, as well as making great profit out of the upper class of China, who directly benefits from the oppression system of CCP or part of the party themselves. It turns out that in spite of all values that Apple promotes, it actually cares about nothing but the profit and its comfortable zone in China.<p>And I will not be surprised Apple will cease the plan in India as soon as China steps back from the zero-covid policy, as if all the blood has not been spilled.
> Apple’s longer-term goal is to ship 40% to 45% of iPhones from India, compared with a single-digit percentage currently, according to Ming-chi Kuo, an analyst at TF International Securities who follows the supply chain. Suppliers say Vietnam is expected to shoulder more of the manufacturing for other Apple products such as AirPods, smartwatches and laptops.
India's timing on "Make in India" couldn't have been more fortuitous. The Modi government started hyping Make in India in 2019, if memory serves. Nothing came off it for a while until things started moving in 2021. And now, by 2022, India seems poised to take over some manufacturing from China.<p>Better lucky than good, I guess.
India has had its share of strikes and protests over working conditions at Apple's Taiwanese suppliers:<p><a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/india/food-poisoning-foxconns-india-unit-triggers-protest-police-detain-dozens-2021-12-19/" rel="nofollow">https://www.reuters.com/world/india/food-poisoning-foxconns-...</a><p>Dozens released after protest at India plant of Apple supplier Foxconn<p>Police in India have released dozens of those detained for blocking a key highway in a protest against food poisoning at a Foxconn (2317.TW) unit, the country's second instance of unrest at an Apple Inc (AAPL.O) supplier factory in a year.<p>...<p>In December last year, thousands of contract workers at a factory owned by Apple supplier Wistron Corp (3231.TW) destroyed equipment and vehicles over the alleged non-payment of wages, causing damages estimated at $60 million.
wish the biden administration would give manufacturers a tax break to manufacture in south america. It would enrich our neighbors to the south and possibly put a dent in drug trafficking and illegal immigration.<p>Making asia rich doesnt help us nearly as much as making south america rich.
Zero-covid or not, this is inevitable.<p>iphones were used to be built in Shenzhen, it is now no longer economically viable to do so anymore as labor costs in Shenzhen is much higher, so they moved the factory to Zhenzhou. to chase more profit, they will always consider cheaper alternatives.<p>It is actually good for the Chinese economy as such cheap labor jobs are not going to sustain further growth required to compete on a more skilled level globally.
Three hundred thousand workers work at a factory in China to make iPhones? I didn't realise how massive the production line is, considering they have a 23% market share, and the rest is all Android lead by Samsung. I am always surprised that Apple (or other Western tech giants) never considered building backup factories. Did they never think about geopolitics or natural disasters and panamics?<p>Apart from that iPhone will be cheaper in India because it cuts down all import duties, and who knows what other tax/land benefits the government of India/State government will provide them so that massive employment will be created. So it might help India in the long run, provided Indian governments give proper support to build these factories, especially in bureaucratic policies.
What I would rather know is where the entire supply chain is. What countries contribute what percentage of the finished product? You can claim "made in X" if the final assembly is there, even if 90% of the value add is in the supply chain not located in X.
People love to give Jony Ive and Steve Jobs credit for the iPhone but no one gives Tim Cook credit for keep making the iPhone the most desirable product in the world in 2022.
What Apple has learned is that they need to diversify their manufacturing risk. It’s not surprising they want to move some production to India. I have doubts they will completely move away from China though. Apple is a business, they don’t care about politics as long as it doesn’t hinder their production.
Apple will end up moving 0% to India. Tiny manufacturing in India is a token.<p>India is a very noisy democracy with absolute freedom of movement . Corporate slave labor in tens of thousands impossible in India.
Apple invested too much in China. I doubt they can wean off the Chinese market and labors/suppliers. the news about Apple throttled AirDrop during Chinese protests is a tell.
What was unthinkable in 2020 is now thinkable in 2022. Can Russia just start a major land war in Europe, wiping out whole cities? Sounds crazy. Nnnope.<p>"Chinese President Xi Jinping has ordered the country’s military to develop the ability to take control of Taiwan by 2027, according to CIA official David Cohen."<p><a href="https://www.thedefensepost.com/2022/09/21/china-seize-taiwan-us-intel/" rel="nofollow">https://www.thedefensepost.com/2022/09/21/china-seize-taiwan...</a><p>Tim Cook is not an idiot. He knows that this would be a major event that would put his entire company in existential danger, and once the odds are above 1%, you are playing for keeps.<p>Remarkably, this is just <i>one</i> of the factors. Xi's behavior in general has become increasingly unpredictable, but also Apple is not immune to the "Hollywood strategy" - China learns what it needs to learn, borrows all the advanced technology, and tells the other side to please abscond when the time is right.<p>This has already happened for the US movie industry. Disney, after humiliating itself in front of the CCP for over a decade in order to make a buck, is now not welcome. China makes its own movies thank you very much.<p>The time for phones and Teslas is coming. Tim Cook knows this. Elon Musk - not so much. That guy is oblivious, busy being a one-man moderator switchboard on Twitter and chasing down Hunter Biden conspiracies, or something.
I wonder what percentage of sales they predict for India. Based on population and wealth increases, I'd guess it's a reasonable figure even at the lower bounds, which probably factors into various decisions.
I wish we could fix whatever prevents this from happening at scale in Mexico, too (with some high value production in the US and potentially Canada as well, and maybe some other supplies coming from the elsewhere in the Americas.). I wonder if it is infrastructure, regulation, labor, or what.
Apple will make iphones in india with great working condition, reasonable zero-covid policy and great compensation. All the problem will be shifted away by moving the factory to India. (Smile)
Someone said something along the line of "This alone is going to be a huge driver of India's economy going forward...". I honestly feel the opposite. This will make the country more poorer. Hey, I don't know anything about economics. But if mass production (in tech) happens always in those countries and the economy moves forward, then why, on average, those people's lifestyle is not comparable to the poorest man in the west?
If Apple want to exit China for geopolitical reason it should move to Vietnam. Western manufacturers have set up shops in India before and there were few successful stories and many have exit eventually. Ford for example exit India after not turning a profit for decades. When people point out India's problem it is the usual suspect like government red tapes, poor infrastructure, unreliable electric grid...etc. Some even blame India's problem on democracy, which is absurd. Germany is a democracy and is a manufacturing powerhouse. But the fundamental problem underlying all these is the average IQ of a nation. India's population average IQ is 82 and this is the fundamental reason why the workers productivity is so low. This is the elephant in the room that every manufacturer who want to set up shop in a foreign country should consider.