Apple has recently been criticized for making their products in China. It was widely believed that Apple chose China because the labor is cheaper, but that is apparently not the case. According to The New York Times, Apple executives believe Chinese factories are faster and more flexible than American companies.
The report says President Obama asked Steve Jobs how they could get iPhones made in the US, and Mr. Jobs replied, "those jobs aren’t coming back.”
It looks like Apple has made its choice and Apple products will continue to be made in China for the foreseeable future.
Apple executives say that going overseas, at this point, is their only option. One former executive described how the company relied upon a Chinese factory to revamp iPhone manufacturing just weeks before the device was due on shelves. Apple had redesigned the iPhone’s screen at the last minute, forcing an assembly line overhaul. New screens began arriving at the plant near midnight.
A foreman immediately roused 8,000 workers inside the company’s dormitories, according to the executive. Each employee was given a biscuit and a cup of tea, guided to a workstation and within half an hour started a 12-hour shift fitting glass screens into beveled frames. Within 96 hours, the plant was producing over 10,000 iPhones a day.
“The speed and flexibility is breathtaking,” the executive said. “There’s no American plant that can match that.”
A foreman immediately roused 8,000 workers inside the company’s dormitories, according to the executive. Each employee was given a biscuit and a cup of tea, guided to a workstation and within half an hour started a 12-hour shift fitting glass screens into beveled frames. Within 96 hours, the plant was producing over 10,000 iPhones a day.
“The speed and flexibility is breathtaking,” the executive said. “There’s no American plant that can match that.”
The report says President Obama asked Steve Jobs how they could get iPhones made in the US, and Mr. Jobs replied, "those jobs aren’t coming back.”
It looks like Apple has made its choice and Apple products will continue to be made in China for the foreseeable future.
