Chinese pre-orders for Apple's iPhone 17 break records amid strong demand

They can keep them. I hate all cell phones. I had a regular 3G phone, not a smartphone that I got because I was traveling a lot at the time. I was forced to buy a smartphone when someone's network booster in the neighborhood showed up on my home screen as an icon of a house. It interfered with my calls, and stopped me from being able to manually update my roaming capabilities. I had to drive a few blocks down the road to get the damn icon to fall off my screen, before I could call to update my roaming.

I was told that in order to get rid of the interference, I'd had to go to a smartphone. What they don't tell you is that smartphone's have $hitty connectivity, because of the reduced size of the antenna to make room for storage on the damn thing. That was about 10 years ago. I ended up buying an iPhone 5S, the cheapest. I went with Apple, because I use Apple computers. I don't sync my laptop with my iPhones. There is no reason for me to do that. I had had 4 bars with my 3G phone, but that went to one or two with the iPhone. I called and complained to Verizon. They sent me a network booster for free. I just recently got an upgraded one from them to replace the old one as it wasn't supportable anymore.

When my 5S phone stopped working, I upgraded to an iPhone SE, the cheapest model. I don't use it for anything other than calls, and confirmation texts for doctor appointments and to reorder prescriptions. The majority of the time it sits on the table unused. I don't use it for emails, transactions, etc. The only app I added to it was Verizon's call filter, so I could control spam calls. I have it set that the only calls that my phone will ring for, are those numbers in my contact list. If anyone else calls me, the calls are silenced, and those considered spam are automatically blocked. With text messages, if I get any that are spam, I block them and report them as junk. Like I said, I hate cellphones, but at 78, they are a safety device for me to use if something happens while I'm away from home.

I was on the flip phone off and on for over ten years (I’m a late adopter of cell phone tech) then my cell company told me I had to upgrade. I bit the bullet and got the SE (version 2).

I’d worked with someone who was still using her iPhone 6 and I tried it out (with permission) and really liked it. The SE was based on the iPhone 5, but had slowly been upgraded, and is literally the only bargain in the entire Apple lineup (not just phones, although the M1 MacBook is close).

Just shedding the laughter when I brandished my flip phone was nice, and that probably kept me from snapping my cap and getting addition probation. /jk

When I had to upgrade one of those cell-based land line replacements (I wanted to keep my old number after a move) I switched cell companies and bought an SE (version 3).

I’ve always been pretty pleased with both. To my eye the 2020 version has a better (brighter, sharper) screen than the 2022 version.

Simply put - China has nearly the entire supply chain, machining and assembly to make the iPhone. Replicating that elsewhere is nearly impossible.

The major cost of the iPhone, after R & D (which we still do here), is in the chips and the screen. Free China, Taiwan, makes those, and that is a de facto different entity. The LED/OLED portion of the screen is made by frenemy Samsung and LG in S Korea. The glass portion by Corning in Kentucky.

Vietnam is starting to compete a bit on the logistics side of things. The U.S. could do logistics on a large scale not so very long ago, and could again in short order. Red China didn't become a juggernaut until AFTER WTO recognition and Permanent MFN/Normal status with the U.S. during George the Younger and Bill Clinton. IT/Phone Companies like Apple, Dell (PCs Limited), Fujitsu, NEC, Toshiba, HP, IBM, Motorola, Nokia all flourished during this time. (Hong Kong was part of that, but Red China did NOT make Hong Kong what it is.)

I am not saying that there would be no added cost to making the phones here, just that it would not be a 350% penalty to have them made here with mostly U.S. parts. The chip capacity is coming on board (and never was a Red China thing). In fact, the company I work for has manufacturing in the U.S. northeast, Europe, Japan, India, Malaysia, S. Korea, Philippines, with very little in Red China.

Having the whole thing done in Red China, (which it isn't) would be foolish, as a situation there (including natural disaster), would take the non-Communist China corporation down. Of course, there is the non-trivial risk of IP theft. It is too expensive long term to rely on Red China for manufacturing.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.