Tim Cook Says Apple Will Return Some Mac Production to U.S.
By Karla Robinson
December 11, 2012
December 11, 2012
- Apple CEO Tim Cook announced the company plans to bring Macintosh computer production from China to the States. The move, Reuters suggests, could serve as an “important test of the nascent comeback in U.S. electronics manufacturing.”
- “Apple makes the majority of its products, from Macs to the iPhone and iPad, in China, the world’s factory floor for electronics. But like other U.S. corporations, it has come under fire for relying on low-cost Asian labor and contributing to the decline of the U.S. manufacturing sector,” the article states.
- Apple will spend more than $100 million on the U.S. manufacturing project, according to Cook. He wouldn’t say which Macintosh products will be produced in the U.S., but said only one of the existing Mac product lines would be manufactured exclusively here.
- “Also, while cheaper labor costs have been a key factor in encouraging U.S. manufacturers to move production to China,” notes Reuters, “wages and other costs have risen sharply — particularly in the main coastal manufacturing centers. Labor costs, moreover, account for only a tiny portion of overall expenses.”
- Another added benefit to moving production to the U.S. is reducing the risk of intellectually property theft.
- The company’s shares have been consistently dropping since September in light of intensifying competition from Google’s Android products, analysts say.
- “Apple’s domestic manufacturing effort will likely buy the brand some goodwill at home, where the debate about off-shoring has heated up as the economy sputters along,” explains the article. “Beyond the marketing boost, some analysts said Apple could blaze a trail should it prove that American manufacturing of electronics can be profitable.”
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