I see the Ars comment section is full of the usual insightful "we need Chinese slave labor otherwise the flow of my shiny new Apple devices will be shut off". It's really a product of selfishness.<p>Imagine if in the 1960s the US simply said regarding the space program, "Welp, let the Russians do it, can't be done". And they DID give up, until SpaceX came along the US was relying on the Russians to ferry astronauts on Soyuz.<p>People forget that 30 years ago China was still shipping low quality crap. It is because of companies like Apple that worked with Foxconn to bring that up to standard.<p>The defeatist attitude will not bring about progress. It will not happen overnight but it can be done.
I can't get Apple to confirm the next version of iOS is indeed going to be numbered 19, let alone whether they'll confirm they'll move the production operation to the US
> Apple silent as ...<p>Um, yes? Mr. Cook's old enough to know that there's far more downside than upside, for both Apple and himself, if they make public comments on the subject.