Trump to Apple: Make the iPhone in the U.S., not China

mashable.com ^ | 01/04/2019 | Matt Binder

[BenLurkin]

“Apple is a great company," Trump said during his news conference. "Look, I have to worry about our country. Don't forget, Apple makes the product in China."

“I told Tim Cook, who's a friend of mine who I like a lot, make your product in the United States," Trump added. "Build those big beautiful plants that go on for miles. Build those plants in the United States. I'd like that even better. Apple makes its product in China. China is the biggest beneficiary of Apple ... because they build their product mostly in China.”

Trump, who is notably an iPhone user, does appear to be a fan of Apple. While it's unclear whether Cook also considers him a friend, Trump has made it clear that he likes the Apple CEO.

Apple publicly warned last year that Trump’s tariffs on China would increase the price of its products. The Trump administration responded by exempting Apple products from the tariffs. Still, the threat of retaliation from China against Apple due to Trump’s trade war lingers in the air.

Trump, however, wasn’t finished with his Apple comments. “But now, [Cook is] investing $350 billion — because of what we did with taxes and the incentives that we created — in the United States, "Trump said. "He’s going to build a campus and lots of other places.”

“My focus is the United States," he added. "I want to get those companies to come back like so many are doing into the United States. I want Apple to make their iPhones and all of the great things that they make in the United States and that will take place.”

[goodnesswins]

Thank you...I knew it would be a large difference...Wonder how much unnecessary regulations add to US costs?

[dhs12345]

Smart phones have reached their peak as a revenue source. The are unaffordable. Especially, at the replacement rate that Apple requires to maintain their profit levels. Expect Apple profits to wane. They need to push media - music, movies, games. Even then, revenues wont be as high.

[central_va]

To you $16.00 is a large difference on a $1,000 phone? What?!

[goodnesswins]

Nooo..
I meant difference in labor to actual sale price...markup per se

[RetiredTexasVet]

I-Phones are not selling in China because they stole the technology and are selling the knockoffs for much cheaper. The I-Phones are not selling in the US because they cost too much. My wife has a I-Phone 5 that cost much less years ago, has about the same capability as the newest model and total maintenance cost to date has be 1 battery replacement for $49.00 plus tax.

[Mr. Jeeves]

The iPhone X is a great device, but this year’s XS is a only a marginal improvement and not worth the upgrade. So Apple’s sales numbers are naturally disappointing. I think an annual upgrade cycle is too frequent, and this release came too soon and lacked too much.

[hanamizu]

I got an Apple SE phone a couple of years ago for around $500. Replaced the battery a couple of month ago for about $35. Figure I’m good to go for at least 2 or 3 more years. The phone does everything I ask of it and when I’m away from home as I was this time last year I can use it as a hotspot to use the internet on my MacBook. One is not compelled to buy the latest product.

[wildcard_redneck]

“HA! Who in the U.S. is going to work for 75 cents an hour?”

When you factor in the savings Apple would gain in shipping, employee travel expenses, prevention of intellectual property theft, shorter product development lifecycles, and avoiding US tariffs then employees working in the US can be paid more from those savings. That is why tariffs work.

[GOPJ]

Five bucks?

[dhs12345]

Therein lies the problem for Apple...

Here’s Tim Cook’s plan to get more people to upgrade their iPhones and turn Apple revenue around

Here’s Tim Cook’s plan to get more people to upgrade their iPhones and turn Apple revenue around. https://tiny.iavian.net/qit8

[dhs12345]

Also, expect your phone to be obsolete in the future. This means end of OS support and then fewer apps until the phone becomes useless. For example, many services require an app. Apps that require a current, supported OS. No OS, no app.

[Brilliant]

They will need to do it with robots if they are going to make it affordable.

[PIF]

36% is the real number

[PIF]

All well and fine about AAPL making phones in the US, but the truth is that there are so many problems making that proposition very difficult. One is there is a labor shortage - where are all these workers going to come from?

The wages paid in China are for the Chinese a good rate. It’s a living wage for them as little as it seems to us here. For them, it is also the opportunity to flee rural poverty - something most here only have a vague conception of the reality.

Some will say just use robots - but that is a lot of robots, and where do all the trained technicians that maintain the robots and all the robots come from? Are those robots made here or in China?

Next is plant size - where can a plant employing 500,000 people be built? NYC? Where do you find the land cheap enough to put it on? And all the infrastructure needed from roads to houses to suppliers to grocery stores and hair salons? Where is all of that going to be built - will APPL have to foot that bill as well?

Then there will be the mass waiver of almost every workplace and environmental regulation you can imagine.

Phones, computers from ALL electronics manufactures are built in China, Korea and Japan for reasons other that the price of labor. There is an existing huge concentrated population base with little regulations there that does not exist in the US.

[servantboy777]

This is the primary reason I love this guy.

[vette6387]

“The iPhone X is a great device, but this year’s XS is a only a marginal improvement and not worth the upgrade. “

Agreed! We have a business, so the two phones we have are a business expense. But if we were not in that position, we would not likely be paying the nearly $50. per month per phone to have the latest and greatest. So the leave me wondering about just how elastic the market is going to be for people as Apple attempts to further ratchet up prices. We replaced iPhone 5GS models, whose only drawback got to be that their batteries had lost substantial life, necessitating their being charged more often. As phones and means to receive TMs and e-mail they were still doing the job. I don’t see that there are enough bells and whistles in the future products ( even 5G) that are going to justify say $1500. phones for the average Joe.

[excalibur21]

If Apple makes there iPhone in the U.S. they will price them to be competitive with the other brands of phones. They just won’t be able to use slave labor and help finance the Chinese war machine anymore.

[Clutch Martin]

“The feds have NO constitutional or legal say in where anybody buy or sells or makes anything.”

Consumers do... therein lies the problem.

I use what my son’s use. They are technically Savvy (I’m technically somewhat Savvy but most of my technical abilities have long past obsolescence), And they’re not using Apple, they tell me why they don’t use apple. People I know in the sound reproduction business don’t use apple anymore or are shifting away from Apple, and they tell me why.

There is a shift and it seems to have occurred after Jobs passed away. Some of my MBA buddies tell me that Apple almost went under back in the 90s and it was Pixar and the phenomenal success of Toy Story that basically saved the e-vile empire.

Things have changed a bit since then, but Microsoft compliant products seem to be holding their own share of the market, but I think even the market is evened out to the point where now it is really a selective choice.

I have used Microsoft since really the Inception of Microsoft on or in the workplace, which is the late 80s. I just use what I’m familiar with and it is not Apple.

I watch my friends with iPhones and they have even brought me their iPhones to do things like change the battery... that is ridiculous. Plus, earlier iPhones were limited in memory and frankly were not scalable as demands on devices increased! Android you just put in a bigger SDHD in the comfort of your own kitchen counter.

My next smart phone will be an Android again. Except I need a bigger screen and I want one it actually sounds okay without the headphones or the Bluetooth speaker. That’s all I need. I rarely even get on the laptop anymore unless I’m typing up something administrativly.

I am not a big fan of bundled apps though! And I don’t like getting hit up on maps and all that other junk for places I just happened to pass on the street, which iPhones don’t but that is not enough to bother me and drive me to the brink to purchase an iPhone.

I know people that use Apple products, buy new Apple products, and it takes them over a week to get their phones up and running properly, and that’s even after driving 90 miles to an Apple Store and having the person in the Apple Store work with them to get their phones operating correctly. That my friends is ridiculous.

[Jim W N]

“The feds have NO constitutional or legal say in where anybody buy or sells or makes anything.”

Consumers do... therein lies the problem.

Yes, freedom has its problems, but freedom is WAY ahead of whatever's in second place.

[major_gaff]

Then there will be the mass waiver of almost every workplace
and environmental regulation you can imagine.

Phones, computers from ALL electronics manufactures are built in China, Korea and Japan for reasons other that the price of labor. There is an existing huge concentrated population base with little regulations there that does not exist in the US.

Bingo...I have worked in the Semiconductor industry for 25+ years and
remember when pretty much every company had their own fab. I
watched as KYEC, TSMC and Charter came online in Asia and US
companies went 'fab-less'. The main reason for this is that manufacturing
IC's is a dirty nasty, process, so with the regulations and cost of compliance, it was cheaper to do it oversea's. That has not changed. While assembling phones is not as impactful, manufacturing the
components is and would be cost prohibitive in the US. Said components
would have to be shipped into the US as opposed to shipped from a local supplier in China and would add cost. So it's not just the labor that needs
to be considered.