There are signs of a possible trend reversal that suggests the manufacturing of consumer electronics is returning to the U.S.
Google’s new Nexus Q wireless home media player, for example, is being manufactured in California — and other American companies are doing the same.
“While many of those companies have been small, like ET Water Systems, there have also been some highly visible moves by America’s largest consumer and industrial manufacturers,” reports The New York Times.
“General Electric and Caterpillar, for example, have moved assembly operations back to the United States in the last year,” notes the article. “Airbus, a European company, said Wednesday it would build jets in Alabama.”
While there may not be a single reason responsible for the emerging trend, the article explains that “rising labor and energy costs have made manufacturing in China significantly more expensive; transportation costs have risen; companies have become increasingly aware of the risks of intellectual property theft when products are made in China; and in a business where time-to-market is a competitive advantage, it is easier for engineers to drive 10 minutes on the freeway to the factory than to fly for 16 hours.”
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