The lockdowns in China are creating problems in many areas beyond computer chips or the assembly of devices.
I work in Radiology and the most widely used contrast agent in CT scans and many other applications to include the Operating Room is in very short supply. This is a very serious issue as CT imaging is a critical and often difficult to replace test. There are many people who cannot have an MRI and there are many times when an Ultrasound or MRI will not be able to replace the CT exam. Non contrast CT imaging is significantly less detailed.
I am quite sure there are many other examples. And FYI, that contrast agent was invented in the US and production was moved to China years ago. Grrr…
The shortsighted cost-cutting practices of off-shoring manufacturing and the JIT stock control has been a disaster waiting to happen, and the pandemic was the ideal nudge to trigger this all off.
The lockdowns in China are creating problems in many areas beyond computer chips or the assembly of devices.
I work in Radiology and the most widely used contrast agent in CT scans and many other applications to include the Operating Room is in very short supply. This is a very serious issue as CT imaging is a critical and often difficult to replace test. There are many people who cannot have an MRI and there are many times when an Ultrasound or MRI will not be able to replace the CT exam. Non contrast CT imaging is significantly less detailed.
I am quite sure there are many other examples. And FYI, that contrast agent was invented in the US and production was moved to China years ago. Grrr…
The shortsighted cost-cutting practices of off-shoring manufacturing and the JIT stock control has been a disaster waiting to happen, and the pandemic was the ideal nudge to trigger this all off.
Shortsighted? Apple becomes a one trillion dollar then a two trillion dollar company because manufacturing in China. Without China, Apple won't be able to make so many iPhones at a competitive cost.
I ordered my custom MBP 14” on Feb 20 with a due date of mid-April. The week before I was supposed to get it, they said it would be delayed until mid-May. Then this week I got a notification that I shouldn’t expect it before the end of June/early July. My current laptop is in pretty bad need of replacement so I’m going to keep the order open until I get it.
The lockdowns in China are creating problems in many areas beyond computer chips or the assembly of devices.
I work in Radiology and the most widely used contrast agent in CT scans and many other applications to include the Operating Room is in very short supply. This is a very serious issue as CT imaging is a critical and often difficult to replace test. There are many people who cannot have an MRI and there are many times when an Ultrasound or MRI will not be able to replace the CT exam. Non contrast CT imaging is significantly less detailed.
I am quite sure there are many other examples. And FYI, that contrast agent was invented in the US and production was moved to China years ago. Grrr…
The shortsighted cost-cutting practices of off-shoring manufacturing and the JIT stock control has been a disaster waiting to happen, and the pandemic was the ideal nudge to trigger this all off.
It’s all based on economics. A big part of what made these very long supply chains work so well was the amazing improvements that have been made over the past several decades to drive the transportation and delivery costs down.
These massive container ships that can move greater than 12,000 containers at a time combined with the automation in the loading and unloading processing drove the per-unit costs to move products down to ridiculously small numbers, like 50 cents on average to ship a big screen TV from Malaysia to the US.
If you’re making money selling these things the distance between manufacturing plant and showroom becomes immaterial. Who doesn’t want to make more money? Of course when the supply chain stops or pauses the pain sets in and lingers for a long time, which is what we’re seeing now.
Keep in mind that these supply chains are chains, which means they reach back further than you may think. Moving one link in the chain from Asia to the US won’t solve the problem.
Apple needs to diversify their supply chain away from China. China has peaked and it's all downhill from here. Not only are their draconian COVID restrictions causing tremendous short term damage, they're also exacerbating the demographic crash that was happening anyway. Nobody wants to get pregnant when they could be locked down in prison-like quarantine. So not only do companies like Apple need to worry about what crazy policies the Chinese government might adapt next (and not just COVID policies -- there's also the potential for censorship, espionage, invading Taiwan, etc), they will also be facing increasing labor shortages in China.
Apple's Board will be guilty of negligence if they don't push management to diversify away from China.
Well, my March 28 order for a 14" MB Pro with 512 GB SSD & 32 GB RAM that was scheduled for delivery April 14th, and then May 14th, just got pushed out to July. This latest delay happened just recently. Now I am reading that the Chinese government is doubling down on their "zero Covid" policy. Given where we are today with Covid, this just doesn't add up. We have multiple effective vaccines, and effective in-hospital therapeutic treatments to deal with Covid. Yet, the Chinese government is treating this like it is March 2020, when we knew nothing about Covid and had nothing with which to fight Covid. Makes you wonder if they are using "zero Covid" as a cover for something else.
Regardless, it is hard to see how any manufacturing plants are functioning at all.
Just received mine today, 64gb / 2tb, scheduled to be delivered end of June. So miracles can happen I guess.
When did you place the order? Were you notified of the accelerated delivery time line? I would love to know that these late June/early July delivery dates are just Apple tacking on 6 more weeks because they are unable to give you a solid estimate of when something leaves the production line. I ordered by MB Pro with 512 GB SSD & 32 GB of RAM in late March. It now shows that early July delivery date after being delayed from April to May.
Well, my March 28 order for a 14" MB Pro with 512 GB SSD & 32 GB RAM that was scheduled for delivery April 14th, and then May 14th, just got pushed out to July. This latest delay happened just recently. Now I am reading that the Chinese government is doubling down on their "zero Covid" policy. Given where we are today with Covid, this just doesn't add up. We have multiple effective vaccines, and effective in-hospital therapeutic treatments to deal with Covid. Yet, the Chinese government is treating this like it is March 2020, when we knew nothing and had nothing with which to fight Covid. Makes you wonder if they are using "zero Covid" as a cover for something else.
Regardless, it is hard to see how any manufacturing plants are functioning at all.
I heard that US government since Trump was blocking China from getting US developed vaccines. China has to rely on its own vaccines. They are not as effective as US.
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Apple's Board will be guilty of negligence if they don't push management to diversify away from China.