I noticed a one month extra delay receiving goods from Shenzhen. This was due to the fact that it was send by airmail and passenger flights from China were almost non existand (packages mostly piggyback on passenger flights). Huge piles of packages assembled on Chinese airports. Apple also sends store items directly from Shenzhen, but I suspect Apple as a tier 1 customer in China can demand special treatment and use charter freight flights to circumvent the queue. Other packages and goods did arrive in a normal timeframe, but this is because container transport shipped more or less normally. So Apple and others had no problem in this respect. Fact is that Chinese production was about zero for two months or so, which is unprecedented. This means that China scrambled to catch up with lost production time and highly prioritized their tier 1 customers (read Apple). So it is very probable that Apple kept its damage low by putting others in a disadvantage. Big corp. bends the rules ...
Wow. This was interesting until you took a massive swing at the US in the end. What on earth was that about?
The point of the article is that Apple is large enough, rich enough, and strong enough that they keep GLOBAL stockpiles around the world. They literally buy years in advance to lock pricing, then ensure they wide distribute their subs.
The whole point of being “global” means it wouldn’t matter if their main manufacturing was in China, India or the US ... they can bend around it.
China shut down their factories too. And while it was for weeks instead of months, when Foxconn did reopen only 10% of the work force came back. Foxconn had to offer up to $1000 to workers to get them to return. So how is that much different than the US factory shut downs (in some areas ... not all states shut down ... plus Apple MAY have been deemed essential depending on what was being made).
Anyhow, the article was interesting when focusing on how badly “experts” miss when trying to guess stuff. Yet the premise was that Apple is stronger because of how wide spread its global supply chain is. Suggesting it would be weaker if something was based in the US because of how “bad” we are with things is just strange.
NOTE: I don’t support forcing Apple to move to the United States for manufacturing ... there are reasons outside of “US BAD” that they make that call.
There are a variety of layers of federal, state, county, city, and even charitable assistance for healthcare for people who live in poverty. I know this from experience.
Just because you know people who are covered doesn’t mean everyone, or even most, have that option. I haven’t been able to afford health insurance for the past 24 years. I teach at a university and I’m offered insurance for maybe $200/mo, but my finances are so tight that literally isn’t feasible. My children are covered by a state service but my wife and I don’t qualify.
With that said, I don’t think a national government run health service is correct. I lived in the UK and had a great experience the couple of times I had to use their national health service. But the US is different. We became so successful because of our approach to commerce and freedom and personal responsibility. There are problems for sure which we should aim to fix, but there are problems with every system. You need to pick which problems you want. ‘Socialist’ ideas are the opposite of what made the US so successful and admired by the world (notice how our reputation is diminishing as we abandoned founding principles...).
I am about as capitalist (not Republican, capitalist) as they come but even I think that some form of socialized medicine is probably needed at this time for the less well-to-do, as long as private insurers can still exist for those who can afford better. In fact we have that in theory with Medicare and Medicaid, which is how my mother-in-law is able to get her health care for the most part, with additional layers provided by the county, etc. But I am acutely aware that our system is doesn't work well for those who are of low or low-to-moderate income, as opposed to those who essentially have no income who ironically are covered fine.
Oh please. I generally like DED articles but this is just a hyperbolic political screed.
" without a functional public health system, and without any real testing and tracking system in place" ... Are you suggesting this statement is untrue?
The best you could say and maybe be partially correct is we have one that has not been allowed to function because of partisan politics exercised in areas of the government which previous administrations of both parties had kept out of politics. And that is not "hyperbolic political screed."
Just because you know people who are covered doesn’t mean everyone, or even most, have that option. I haven’t been able to afford health insurance for the past 24 years. I teach at a university and I’m offered insurance for maybe $200/mo, but my finances are so tight that literally isn’t feasible. My children are covered by a state service but my wife and I don’t qualify.
Obviously, you're in a discipline other than sports that are dramatically overfunded relative to virtually all other disciplines. That's a messed up system. Did you happen to notice when teaching in the UK that Brits are shocked when they hear of sports scholarships? Scholarships there and most other countries tend to be for academic excellence rather than for sports. You said you had great experiences under the GOVERNMENT RUN NHS yet, inexplicably, toss out the dreaded S-word in relation to the wonderful-if-you-can-afford-it for-profit healthcare service in the USA that, in spite of your teaching position, have been unable to afford for 24 years. Can you not see the flaw in your assertion?
Economists, stock market analysts, news sources, opinion pieces.....Apple has always been ridiculed and critics always say this “Apple is doomed, now the supply chain will kill Apple, iPhones are a fad, you can’t type on this thing!, demand will be weak Sell Now!! They’re always always always wrong!! Every single time!! I’ve been following Apple news since 1997 and it’s never been nice media for Apple. Everyone is against them and they always come out on top. The media is stupid when it comes to Apple 🍎
Before you get too excited about Apple's success, keep in mind that a lot of people have been forced to stay at home, received stimulus checks, and many opted out of paying their rent. I'm sure there was some discretionary spending going on, with a lot of people being unjustifiably optimistic that everything would be back to normal soon. Also, while they've released some new things, just *how much* have they sold? These have all been mostly minor spec bumps, not exciting new products that they'd normally sell a ton of. Let's see if they still release the new iPhones on time and let's see how successful they are selling them if a lot of people are unemployed and the stimulus checks and bumped-up unemployment checks are no longer flowing.
I still believe that the economy is going to be hit very hard by this. So far it's been artificially propped up by a lot of money printing. I don't think that will go on forever.
DAalseth and Gatorguy, it's always jarring when you find someone you read fairly regularly has run into serious health issues, even if you have no personal contact with them.
Just wanted to say I'm glad you both pulled through and are doing well.
Thanks. In a very strange way cancer is the best thing that's happened to me.
Oh please. I generally like DED articles but this is just a hyperbolic political screed.
I grew up in the US, lived there until I was in my 40s. I know the US healthcare system very well. We live in Canada now. A few years ago I was diagnosed with stage four cancer. Together Canada’s health care system and I beat it. I am absolutely convinced that if I had still been in the US when I was diagnosed my family would today be bankrupt and I would be dead.
The US healthcare system has some good people trying to make it work. But at it’s heart it’s about money not care. If you have money you get care. If you don’t then the insurance companies and the HMOs can’t profit so you don’t.
The flight of the sick continues to rise in Canada.
A policy brief — titled Flight of the Sick, by the Calgary-based think tank secondstreet.org — says 217,500 Canadians left the country for health care in 2017, according to Statistics Canada. If those travelling with the patients are included in the count, the total rises to 369,700 people.
Oh please. I generally like DED articles but this is just a hyperbolic political screed.
I grew up in the US, lived there until I was in my 40s. I know the US healthcare system very well. We live in Canada now. A few years ago I was diagnosed with stage four cancer. Together Canada’s health care system and I beat it. I am absolutely convinced that if I had still been in the US when I was diagnosed my family would today be bankrupt and I would be dead.
The US healthcare system has some good people trying to make it work. But at it’s heart it’s about money not care. If you have money you get care. If you don’t then the insurance companies and the HMOs can’t profit so you don’t.
Absolutely correct, DAalseth.
My mother, originally from the UK, suffered for the last 10 years of her life with Parkinsons and its accompanying dementia. My siblings and I begged her to move back to the UK when she was diagnosed (knowing about the nature of the US system), but my mother was in denial about her illness and would not leave North Carolina. The "wonderful" US healthcare system forced my mom to spend down all of her life savings and assets until she had no more than $2000 in the bank. Only then would assisted living and nursing care expenses be covered (Medicaid). My mother paid taxes in the US for almost 50 years, had a career, owned a home, retired AND had full Medicare AND supplemental insurance. The US healthcare system still forced my mother to become totally bankrupt before it would provide care for her. She could not leave any assets to her son or granddaughters - something the 1%'ers never have to worry about. Had I taken care of her full-time, I would have had to quit my teaching job thereby becoming unable to make mortgage payments, subsequently lose my house, and become homeless and bankrupt as well. At least then I might have been able to get substandard Medicaid coverage. (Oh wait, maybe not. Our right-wing NC legislature thwarted Medicaid expansion...)
Conversely, my mother's older sister, my aunt, lived in the UK and suffered from MS for 40 years. She didn't have to "spend down" her life savings. She had all of her medical and care expenses covered by the NHS. The NHS even installed an elevator in her home, which kept my aunt out of a nursing facility for another decade, thereby saving the NHS and the British taxpayer a TON on money as well as providing a MUCH better quality of life for my aunt and her family.
I have lived the misery of the US healthcare system personally. Don't even get me started on how my father suffered as he died of cancer in the late 1980s and my dealings with his horrible HMO!
As for my Canadian friend who survived cancer in the Canadian Healthcare system, I agree with you. Our healthcare system is designed to bankrupt families who have cancer, even those individuals with health insurance.
You are correct. Please see my reply to our Canadian friend, DAalseth, for the miserable experience my mother and I had with US "healthcare".
Oh please. I generally like DED articles but this is just a hyperbolic political screed.
I grew up in the US, lived there until I was in my 40s. I know the US healthcare system very well. We live in Canada now. A few years ago I was diagnosed with stage four cancer. Together Canada’s health care system and I beat it. I am absolutely convinced that if I had still been in the US when I was diagnosed my family would today be bankrupt and I would be dead.
The US healthcare system has some good people trying to make it work. But at it’s heart it’s about money not care. If you have money you get care. If you don’t then the insurance companies and the HMOs can’t profit so you don’t.
The flight of the sick continues to rise in Canada.
A policy brief — titled Flight of the Sick, by the Calgary-based think tank secondstreet.org — says 217,500 Canadians left the country for health care in 2017, according to Statistics Canada. If those travelling with the patients are included in the count, the total rises to 369,700 people.
Second Street is a so-called "think-tank" with close connections to the Canadian Taxpayers Federation. They received $50,000 in 2018 from the Donner Canadian Foundation, a prominent funder of right-wing ideological organizations in Canada. Any pronouncements it makes are highly dubious and it has only crass political goals at heart.
Oh please. I generally like DED articles but this is just a hyperbolic political screed.
I grew up in the US, lived there until I was in my 40s. I know the US healthcare system very well. We live in Canada now. A few years ago I was diagnosed with stage four cancer. Together Canada’s health care system and I beat it. I am absolutely convinced that if I had still been in the US when I was diagnosed my family would today be bankrupt and I would be dead.
The US healthcare system has some good people trying to make it work. But at it’s heart it’s about money not care. If you have money you get care. If you don’t then the insurance companies and the HMOs can’t profit so you don’t.
The flight of the sick continues to rise in Canada.
A policy brief — titled Flight of the Sick, by the Calgary-based think tank secondstreet.org — says 217,500 Canadians left the country for health care in 2017, according to Statistics Canada. If those travelling with the patients are included in the count, the total rises to 369,700 people.
Second Street is a so-called "think-tank" with close connections to the Canadian Taxpayers Federation. They received $50,000 in 2018 from the Donner Canadian Foundation, a prominent funder of right-wing ideological organizations in Canada. Any pronouncements it makes are highly dubious and it has only crass political goals at heart.
The story references not knowing how many of those individuals that traveled to the U.S. traveled specifically for cosmetic surgery...
Oh please. I generally like DED articles but this is just a hyperbolic political screed.
I grew up in the US, lived there until I was in my 40s. I know the US healthcare system very well. We live in Canada now. A few years ago I was diagnosed with stage four cancer. Together Canada’s health care system and I beat it. I am absolutely convinced that if I had still been in the US when I was diagnosed my family would today be bankrupt and I would be dead.
The US healthcare system has some good people trying to make it work. But at it’s heart it’s about money not care. If you have money you get care. If you don’t then the insurance companies and the HMOs can’t profit so you don’t.
As a counter, I was born and raised in Canada and saw both my mother and step-mother die of cancer due the slow and jaded Canadian health care system. My mother-in-law on the other hand, received fast and exceptional treatment in the U.S. that extended her life several years with a cancer that has a less than 5% survival rate for the first encounter. The U.S. healthcare system most definitely has problems but the problems are no less severe in Canada.
Comments
This was due to the fact that it was send by airmail and passenger flights from China were almost non existand (packages mostly piggyback on passenger flights).
Huge piles of packages assembled on Chinese airports.
Apple also sends store items directly from Shenzhen, but I suspect Apple as a tier 1 customer in China can demand special treatment and use charter freight flights to circumvent the queue.
Other packages and goods did arrive in a normal timeframe, but this is because container transport shipped more or less normally. So Apple and others had no problem in this respect.
Fact is that Chinese production was about zero for two months or so, which is unprecedented.
This means that China scrambled to catch up with lost production time and highly prioritized their tier 1 customers (read Apple).
So it is very probable that Apple kept its damage low by putting others in a disadvantage.
Big corp. bends the rules ...
The best you could say and maybe be partially correct is we have one that has not been allowed to function because of partisan politics exercised in areas of the government which previous administrations of both parties had kept out of politics. And that is not "hyperbolic political screed."
I still believe that the economy is going to be hit very hard by this. So far it's been artificially propped up by a lot of money printing. I don't think that will go on forever.
The article would have been better if the deranged partisan politics were left out of it.
A policy brief — titled Flight of the Sick, by the Calgary-based think tank secondstreet.org — says 217,500 Canadians left the country for health care in 2017, according to Statistics Canada. If those travelling with the patients are included in the count, the total rises to 369,700 people.
https://torontosun.com/news/national/canadians-continue-to-leave-the-country-for-health-care-says-new-report
Absolutely correct, DAalseth.
My mother, originally from the UK, suffered for the last 10 years of her life with Parkinsons and its accompanying dementia. My siblings and I begged her to move back to the UK when she was diagnosed (knowing about the nature of the US system), but my mother was in denial about her illness and would not leave North Carolina. The "wonderful" US healthcare system forced my mom to spend down all of her life savings and assets until she had no more than $2000 in the bank. Only then would assisted living and nursing care expenses be covered (Medicaid). My mother paid taxes in the US for almost 50 years, had a career, owned a home, retired AND had full Medicare AND supplemental insurance. The US healthcare system still forced my mother to become totally bankrupt before it would provide care for her. She could not leave any assets to her son or granddaughters - something the 1%'ers never have to worry about. Had I taken care of her full-time, I would have had to quit my teaching job thereby becoming unable to make mortgage payments, subsequently lose my house, and become homeless and bankrupt as well. At least then I might have been able to get substandard Medicaid coverage. (Oh wait, maybe not. Our right-wing NC legislature thwarted Medicaid expansion...)
Conversely, my mother's older sister, my aunt, lived in the UK and suffered from MS for 40 years. She didn't have to "spend down" her life savings. She had all of her medical and care expenses covered by the NHS. The NHS even installed an elevator in her home, which kept my aunt out of a nursing facility for another decade, thereby saving the NHS and the British taxpayer a TON on money as well as providing a MUCH better quality of life for my aunt and her family.
I have lived the misery of the US healthcare system personally. Don't even get me started on how my father suffered as he died of cancer in the late 1980s and my dealings with his horrible HMO!
You are correct. Please see my reply to our Canadian friend, DAalseth, for the miserable experience my mother and I had with US "healthcare".
Whoops, that's where you jumped the shark.
Second Street is a so-called "think-tank" with close connections to the Canadian Taxpayers Federation. They received $50,000 in 2018 from the Donner Canadian Foundation, a prominent funder of right-wing ideological organizations in Canada. Any pronouncements it makes are highly dubious and it has only crass political goals at heart.
As a counter, I was born and raised in Canada and saw both my mother and step-mother die of cancer due the slow and jaded Canadian health care system. My mother-in-law on the other hand, received fast and exceptional treatment in the U.S. that extended her life several years with a cancer that has a less than 5% survival rate for the first encounter. The U.S. healthcare system most definitely has problems but the problems are no less severe in Canada.