Rumor: iPhone assembler Foxconn plans to build manufacturing plants in US
Foxconn, Apple's Taiwan-based manufacturing partner, is said to be planning to establish manufacturing plants in America, and is evaluating sites in Los Angeles, Calif., and Detroit, Mich.
The rumored manufacturing plants are expected to focus on building LCD television sets, according to a report published Thursday by hit-or-miss industry publication DigiTimes. Citing "market watchers," the report suggested that the plants will not be used to manufacture Apple products, because the work is "rather complicated.
The rumored expansion of Foxconn to America comes as the company's chairman, Terry Gou, also reportedly said at a public event that his company is planning a training program for U.S.-based engineers. Through a planned partnership with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Foxconn hopes to bring American engineers to Taiwan or China to be involved in product design and manufacturing.
Based in Taiwan, Foxconn has a number of manufacturing plants in China where it assembles devices for a number of large electronics companies, including Apple. But Apple has come under fire from critics who disapprove of Foxconn's use of cheap foreign labor.
Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook visited a Foxconn plant in Zhengzhou, China, earlier this year.
Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook was asked earlier this year about the possibility of manufacturing his company's products in America. He said he would like for Apple products to be made stateside, but he also noted that critics have placed an "intense focus" on final assembly, while there is a great deal more to creating devices than just that one step.
A report from AppleInsider in July noted that some of Apple's key component suppliers have begun increasing their U.S.-based production. But because those companies frequently assemble components around the world, it's unknown just how much of a device like the iPhone is truly made in America.
Foxconn has begun expanding outside of China and the Far East in recent years, most notably with a new plant in Brazil that manufactures iPads for Apple.
The rumored manufacturing plants are expected to focus on building LCD television sets, according to a report published Thursday by hit-or-miss industry publication DigiTimes. Citing "market watchers," the report suggested that the plants will not be used to manufacture Apple products, because the work is "rather complicated.
The rumored expansion of Foxconn to America comes as the company's chairman, Terry Gou, also reportedly said at a public event that his company is planning a training program for U.S.-based engineers. Through a planned partnership with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Foxconn hopes to bring American engineers to Taiwan or China to be involved in product design and manufacturing.
Based in Taiwan, Foxconn has a number of manufacturing plants in China where it assembles devices for a number of large electronics companies, including Apple. But Apple has come under fire from critics who disapprove of Foxconn's use of cheap foreign labor.
Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook visited a Foxconn plant in Zhengzhou, China, earlier this year.
Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook was asked earlier this year about the possibility of manufacturing his company's products in America. He said he would like for Apple products to be made stateside, but he also noted that critics have placed an "intense focus" on final assembly, while there is a great deal more to creating devices than just that one step.
A report from AppleInsider in July noted that some of Apple's key component suppliers have begun increasing their U.S.-based production. But because those companies frequently assemble components around the world, it's unknown just how much of a device like the iPhone is truly made in America.
Foxconn has begun expanding outside of China and the Far East in recent years, most notably with a new plant in Brazil that manufactures iPads for Apple.
Comments
Oh, no! Americans as slave labor! 80 hour work days! Three dollars compensation!
…hit-or-miss industry publication DigiTimes.
Nice of you to be so generous.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tallest Skil
Oh, no! Americans as slave labor! 80 hour work days! Three dollars compensation!
Nice of you to be so generous.
I read one report that said that in 30 years North America will become the manufacturing base for cheap goods sold to China while China will become the exporter of high end machinery. A total reverse of today.
Overly so. I think the descriptive phrases they're looking for is "almost always wrong", "predictably wrong", "consistently wrong" or a similar variation thereof.
And where are the critics to blast the other 80 ish clients that use Foxconn for their American sold products.
Totally mum. Easy money your Surface wasn't 100% made in the USA, for example
but what about iPhones made it in USA?... (just replace iPhone with iTV... LOL)
right... now lets Cue the union problems, the supply problems (caused by the competitors.. because their phones are made in China ) the theft problems or should I say shrinkage problems, who is going to pay for the capital infrastructure?... And getting the government to place a tariff on the Chinese made Apple products coming in, due to those Chinese made Apple products will be cheaper than the US-made product... The problems with productivity of US citizens compared to the Chinese counterparts Because the US citizens are paid more compared to the Chinese...
If there are approximately 300 steps to make an iPhone and each step takes a minute, thats five hours.. if the minimum wage is $10 let's say that's $50 extra for each phone...
So if you add $50 to every Chinese iPhone it will same price... but really are Americans going to pay extra?.. Not a chance ...
There is more chance that you will be paying alot more taxes in the next eight years...
/Pointless rambling
Quote:
the report suggested that the plants will not be used to manufacture Apple products, because the work is "rather complicated.
What is this even supposed to mean? That Apple products aren't complicated (to manufacture)? That Americans can't handle complicated work?
Quote:
Originally Posted by haar
Back in the day TV sets were made in USA...
but what about iPhones made it in USA?... (just replace iPhone with iTV... LOL)
right... now lets Cue the union problems, the supply problems (caused by the competitors.. because their phones are made in China ) the theft problems or should I say shrinkage problems, who is going to pay for the capital infrastructure?... And getting the government to place a tariff on the Chinese made Apple products coming in, due to those Chinese made Apple products will be cheaper than the US-made product... The problems with productivity of US citizens compared to the Chinese counterparts Because the US citizens are paid more compared to the Chinese...
If there are approximately 300 steps to make an iPhone and each step takes a minute, thats five hours.. if the minimum wage is $10 let's say that's $50 extra for each phone...
So if you add $50 to every Chinese iPhone it will same price... but really are Americans going to pay extra?.. Not a chance ...
There is more chance that you will be paying alot more taxes in the next eight years...
/Pointless rambling
Only $50 extra for each phone? You mean you trust the minimum wage workers of US to put together the delicate iPhone components?
It will be much easier for Apple to keep their product parts from leaking out.
Quote:
Originally Posted by xsu
Only $50 extra for each phone? You mean you trust the minimum wage workers of US to put together the delicate iPhone components?
Interesting thought.
Minimum wage earners would be making iPhones in the U.S. whereas better than average wage earners are making iPhones in China.
Hmmm... I wonder which one would give a shit more about their job...
I'm sure Americans can handle it but at a competitive rate for consumer electronics? I don't think so.
Quote:
Originally Posted by haar
Back in the day TV sets were made in USA...
but what about iPhones made it in USA?... (just replace iPhone with iTV... LOL)
right... now lets Cue the union problems, the supply problems (caused by the competitors.. because their phones are made in China ) the theft problems or should I say shrinkage problems, who is going to pay for the capital infrastructure?... And getting the government to place a tariff on the Chinese made Apple products coming in, due to those Chinese made Apple products will be cheaper than the US-made product... The problems with productivity of US citizens compared to the Chinese counterparts Because the US citizens are paid more compared to the Chinese...
If there are approximately 300 steps to make an iPhone and each step takes a minute, thats five hours.. if the minimum wage is $10 let's say that's $50 extra for each phone...
So if you add $50 to every Chinese iPhone it will same price... but really are Americans going to pay extra?.. Not a chance ...
There is more chance that you will be paying alot more taxes in the next eight years...
/Pointless rambling
So you think that each Chinese worked spends 5 hours building one phone at a time? or are you suggesting that if 300 workers each touch the phone over the course of 5 hours that is equivalent to one person for 5 hours? I have had a number of friends and family in Union assembly line type jobs tell me stories about how they were instructed to only work at a certain pace well below what they were capable of so that management would not come to expect that level of output on a regular basis and so that on days when they needed to increase output to meet a quota or earn extra vacation days or whatever, they could easily do so by stepping up from their normally lackadaisical pace to comfortable pace that does is not truly taxing.
Quote:
Originally Posted by anonymouse
What is this even supposed to mean? That Apple products aren't complicated (to manufacture)? That Americans can't handle complicated work?
I have heard stories from family members working on assembly lines in the US along the lines of a new hire not returning to work after the first break because the work was "too hard" or a job where all they had to do was load an item into a punch press and slide it on down but can't manage to do it right, or spent time carving things into the work table that is used for proofing jobs etc resulting in greater difficulty sliding the work around or leading to damage to the finished product. I personally heard a young woman state "I am not going to do this, its too much work" after being handed a job-application.
The reality is very few factories in the USA pay minimum wage rates. Often production line workers are paid well above that. On the otherhand you rightfully point out that Foxconn workers are actually being paid faily well too. When it comes right down to it the assembly effort or cost isn't a big deal. That is wages paid are only a small factor in the cost of the product.
Digitimes is now resorting to Trolling.
Take a business that is losing money for everyone (TVs) and move assembly to a more expensive assembly location.
That is so nonsensical the guys at Digitimes who made this one up, are having a good laugh on their successful troll.
"rumor"
I could add to this but it would really pull this thread off track. To put it bluntly though there are a huge number of lazy people and or idiots in this country. Sadly everyone of them voted for Obama so I really don't see America becoming competitive manufacturing wise anytime soon.
TVs are big and probably have higher shipping costs than other consumer electronics, perhaps why they want to make those closer to selling point.
I think it's a short hand for 300 stages, each stage being done by its own pool of workers. Very few products are assembled by one person per unit, it is entirely reasonable to add up the time for each stage and even sometimes count the between each stage.
I think the $50 figure arrived is reasonable though, maybe even now. Even if you say thirty seconds per step, once you add overhead that multiplies back out again.
It isn't an effort at trolling. These reports are just part of the spectrum of news that published by DigiTimes and is about as useful as any fish wrapper.
I don't care what they're assembling, jobs in the US is win win no matter what the circumstances. It's a step in the right direction to bring jobs back. I hope the rumors are true!
And yes, I'd pay an extra $50 per phone if it meant jobs in the US.