Why Apple says it can't build an iPhone in the US.

[kytwell 179]

The article also spoke about how they roused workers up from sleep to begin working on this glass screen for the I-Phone. That couldn't happen here, without shift differential, everyone living close to work etc, etc unless it was prisoners on site. I still think we have an untapped labor pool that will eliminate many jobs for illegals as well as provide business with cheap labor and that would be our over filled prisons. In addition we would be "rehabilitating" some of the criminals at the same time, by teaching them some type of trade skill or assembly line experience and what not. I think prison labor is an under utilized "resource".

[Susita 175]

I think the same can be said for the American consumer. They once felt an obligation to buy American, but now it is all about what is cheaper.

It's hard or almost impossible to do so nowadays. Some products say "Made in America" but were all the components of that product made here? Or were they shipped here and assembled here, so that the company could say it was made here? That's the question.

The article also spoke about how they roused workers up from sleep to begin working on this glass screen for the I-Phone. That couldn't happen here, without shift differential, everyone living close to work etc, etc unless it was prisoners on site.

We'd be like "yeah, right," roll over and go back to bed.

[slim 1,525]

All you do-gooders should just stop buying iphones.

I find it quite ironic when people protest stuff like this and yet still partake in the products. "I hate Walmart." But you still shop there.

What a bunch of hypocrites.

[SMR 368]

I recently watched a movie called "Outsourced" on Hulu. It's about a call center manager who's sent to India to train his replacement after his stateside call center is shut down. It's Hollywood, of course, but there's a great scene where one of the call center employees is taking a call from a potential customer who is upset that his called has been directed to India. The employee says she can direct him to a competitor that does all of their stuff stateside. The customer is excited until he asks how much it's going to cost and, upon hearing the sum, goes ahead with the original purchase. And Hollywood or no, that's the crux of it.

Few would buy an Ipad that costs $2k.

On the other hand, workers in the US need to become more versatile, keep learning new things, and accept that the world is changing. If you lose your job, that may mean it's time to learn something new. Some seem appalled at the concept that simply being born in America doesn't mean you are going to be able to just show up to a cushy job for 40 years and then live a comfortable life (I use the term cushy very losely here. Even if a job is physically demanding, it may be cushy in terms of security and benefits). There are almost seven billion people on the world. Lots of them are eager, smart, and hungry. While isolationism, tariffs, and simply sticking our heads in the sand may slow things down, globalization is pushing the world toward an equal playing field. There isn't an ethical argument as to why this shouldn't happen, or a practical way to stop it.

20 years ago, nobody had tablets and few had cell phones. Many didn't even have computers. This is a new market that has arisen to replace nothing. We can't blame a loss of jobs on these.

Edited January 23, 2012 by SMR

[Usui Takumi 1,562]

All you do-gooders should just stop buying iphones.

I find it quite ironic when people protest stuff like this and yet still partake in the products. "I hate Walmart." But you still shop there.

What a bunch of hypocrites.

FYI, I haven't shopped at Walmart for a long time now, must be well over a year. But it wasn't because of the business model , its because the service so bloody awful.

45min wait time at the site to store counter.....

insanely long queues at the checkout....

the debit machine not working suddenly means leaving the queue for another long one...

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

I recently watched a movie called "Outsourced" on Hulu. It's about a call center manager who's sent to India to train his replacement after his stateside call center is shut down. It's Hollywood, of course, but there's a great scene where one of the call center employees is taking a call from a potential customer who is upset that his called has been directed to India. The employee says she can direct him to a competitor that does all of their stuff stateside. The customer is excited until he asks how much it's going to cost and, upon hearing the sum, goes ahead with the original purchase. And Hollywood or no, that's the crux of it.

Few would buy an Ipad that costs $2k.

On the other hand, workers in the US need to become more versatile, keep learning new things, and accept that the world is changing. If you lose your job, that may mean it's time to learn something new. Some seem appalled at the concept that simply being born in America doesn't mean you are going to be able to just show up to a cushy job for 40 years and then live a comfortable life (I use the term cushy very losely here. Even if a job is physically demanding, it may be cushy in terms of security and benefits). There are almost seven billion people on the world. Lots of them are eager, smart, and hungry. While isolationism, tariffs, and simply sticking our heads in the sand may slow things down, globalization is pushing the world toward an equal playing field. There isn't an ethical argument as to why this shouldn't happen, or a practical way to stop it.

20 years ago, nobody had tablets and few had cell phones. Many didn't even have computers. This is a new market that has arisen to replace nothing. We can't blame a loss of jobs on these.

How much would it take to train American workers to assemble electronics such as an iPhone and/or iPad? Does this mean third world countries have better schooling than the US? Are we that far behind or does it come down to economics. What's the going rate for Indian tech workers these days? Same with Chinese manufacture workers. And why does Germany do so well making things in Germany with German labor? Has German standard of living went down because of that?

[웃 910]

Few would buy an Ipad that costs $2k.

The iPad 3 would sellout in less than 5 minutes if the best version was priced at $2,000.....And within 10 minutes they'd be selling out on eBay/Craigslist for $3000

[sly_wolf 199]

The iPad 3 would sellout in less than 5 minutes if the best version was priced at $2,000.....And within 10 minutes they'd be selling out on eBay/Craigslist for $3000

We own an Ipad and my next tab would be an Android. Ipad's are too expensive as it is. Apple has too many eggs in one basket including foreign manufacturing.

[SMR 368]

How much would it take to train American workers to assemble electronics such as an iPhone and/or iPad? Does this mean third world countries have better schooling than the US? Are we that far behind or does it come down to economics. What's the going rate for Indian tech workers these days? Same with Chinese manufacture workers. And why does Germany do so well making things in Germany with German labor? Has German standard of living went down because of that?

Not that much if they wanted to do it. But the reality is you don't have a lot of people who want to do it (even for $10 an hour which is a lot more than they make in China).

Better schooling? Depends on how you define better. At present, US high school doesn't prepare students for any sort of job.

The going rate for Indian tech workers is about $20 an hour, including all taxes and overhead. Chinese manufacturing workers are a lot less.

What made in Germany products do you own? Germany may be able to force Germans to buy some of their products domestic but that doesn't mean that German products are successfully exported and competing with Chinese products.

In any case, I'm not sure what Germany has got to do with this. My point is that Americans need to be continuously learning new skills and looking for new opportunities in order to compete in a global economy. Most protectionist idealists ignore this.

The iPad 3 would sellout in less than 5 minutes if the best version was priced at $2,000.....And within 10 minutes they'd be selling out on eBay/Craigslist for $3000

Your claim defies logic and exhibits a lack of understanding about markets. Regardless of how much it costs to make, Apple would sell the iPad for $2000 if it thought that it could sell out at that price. They sell it for as much as they think they can sell it for and still sell out.

[Susita 175]

Saw this recently, it's pretty sad... and totally crazy. I don't think their "skills" are really considered here. I think the reason many jobs have left the U.S. is because there's no way in hell we'd live or work in those conditions, and to boot they get paid next to nothing. Just sayin'.

Jon Stewart on Foxconn

[웃 910]

Your claim defies logic and exhibits a lack of understanding about markets. Regardless of how much it costs to make, Apple would sell the iPad for $2000 if it thought that it could sell out at that price. They sell it for as much as they think they can sell it for and still sell out.

Apple buyers defy logic and your inability to get that shows a lack of understanding about the Apple market.

[slim 1,525]

FYI, I haven't shopped at Walmart for a long time now, must be well over a year. But it wasn't because of the business model , its because the service so bloody awful.

45min wait time at the site to store counter.....

insanely long queues at the checkout....

the debit machine not working suddenly means leaving the queue for another long one...

That's called socialism!

How much would it take to train American workers to assemble electronics such as an iPhone and/or iPad? Does this mean third world countries have better schooling than the US? Are we that far behind or does it come down to economics. What's the going rate for Indian tech workers these days? Same with Chinese manufacture workers. And why does Germany do so well making things in Germany with German labor? Has German standard of living went down because of that?

The reason is because here in America people think they deserve to work for nine months a year at $60/hr.

They also think simple tasks like assembling pieces of plastic or packing them into a box should pay them $12/hr.

But... then they want to buy the stuff they make at $2.99... and blame it on someone else when the world comes tumbling down around them.

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

That's called socialism!

The reason is because here in America people think they deserve to work for nine months a year at $60/hr.

They also think simple tasks like assembling pieces of plastic or packing them into a box should pay them $12/hr.

But... then they want to buy the stuff they make at $2.99... and blame it on someone else when the world comes tumbling down around them.

9 mos. a year @ $60 an hour. That's some decent money if those peeps are getting O/T.

As far as manufacturing wages go...I would think it would depend on skills needed and cost of living in said area where the work is being performed. Nobody wants to be a part of the working poor do they?

[Azzudiin 26]

American workers have lost loyality, and now feel they are entitled.

I will give you a description of how and why Foxxcon was able to wake up its workers and meet the deadlines for the revamp of the iphones in the article. This is first person perspective. This is the story of my wife, a chinese woman, she is writing this post though I am typing it and correcting her English.

Age 14, finished middle school. Family gathers to discuss her future, go to college prep high school, or move to a factory high school. Her grades where not good in school so with families consent she applied to a paper factory in Changzhou China. She was hired, and immediately put into the Factories high school specializing in analytical testing and sampling (think tech school in USA). She completed her high school education and began working in the factory in the quality control department and later she work in the Factory managers office as assistant director.

Over the 10 years she worked there, she was GIVEN a condo to live in, which after 5 years of work was hers to do what she pleased with. All medical care was provided by the factory at no expense to her. Because of the 1 child law in China, people must apply to have a child, the factory big wigs helped her get approved and she had a son who was given completedly free schooling as long as she worked there.

Many people in the west commonly say labor overseas is cheaper, people live in dormitories, working conditions are horrible. Reality there is the bad work places in China, just like there are bad work places anyplace else in the world.

Reality is yes they work for a low wage, but when you don't have to pay for housing, or medical care, or transportation because you live on or close to company premises, a low wage does not look so bad.

The factory was shut down is the only reason she left, otherwise she would still be there today, a very happy and loyal employee.

And yes if her boss called her at midnight and said she had to go to work, she would have gladly got out of bed and worked a 12 hour shift. Its called pride and loyality.

And to add to my wifes post, there is one business in the USA that still operates exactly like the Chinese factory model.

The USA Military. And you will not find a more loyal, patriotic bunch of people then our arm forces members past and present.

[Deputy Purple 1,294]

And to add to my wifes post, there is one business in the USA that still operates exactly like the Chinese factory model.

The USA Military. And you will not find a more loyal, patriotic bunch of people then our arm forces members past and present.

Great post...

As a former Army Brat I can attest to the lifestyle being similar to how your wife described the factory worker's life.

My dad was paid less but received either on base housing or a housing allowance. We always had access to a lot of free or low-cost services on base and that often times more than covered the gap in pay.

I remember hearing stories about Company Towns and Company Stores from way back. Mining Operations and Pullman Train Car Manufacturer come to mind. Usually the tone makes it sound like they were used to unfairly control the workers and it seems like Unions have killed of that concept in the US.