Apple will invest $100M to produce one line of Macs in the US in 2013
Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook has revealed that he plans to bring production of one entire line of Macs to the U.S. next year.
Cook revealed the information in a wide-ranging interview published Thursday by Bloomberg Businessweek. In it, he noted that Apple's ARM processors that power the iPhone and iPad are already made in the U.S., along with the Corning Gorilla Glass covers ? but he also revealed that next year, at least some Mac production will come to America.
"We've been working on this for a long time, and we were getting closer to it. It will happen in 2013," Cook said. "We're really proud of it. We could have quickly maybe done just assembly, but it's broader because we wanted to do something more substantial."
He revealed that Apple is planning to spend more than $100 million dollars to bring production of some of its Mac lineup to America. He also revealed that Apple will not be handling the production themselves, but that the company plans to work with other companies and invest its money.
But in an excerpt from Cook's interview set to air tonight on NBC's Rock Center, the CEO went even further and said that Apple would make one entire line of Macs in America. He declined to say specifically which lineup would be produced stateside.
"We?ve been working for years on doing more and more in the United States," Cook told NBC's Brian Williams. The full interview with Cook will air on tonight's episode at 10 p.m. Eastern.
Cook's comments come soon after his company's new iMacs began shipping, with some units labeled as being "Assembled in America." Previously, some build-to-order iMacs were built in the U.S., but with this year's models, some standard configurations have also been built domestically.
Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook visits a Foxconn iPhone production plant earlier this year.
In an interview at the "All Things D" conference in May, Cook said he would like for there to be Apple products built stateside. But he noticed that critics have placed an "intense focus on the final assembly" of Apple's products, rather than where the individual components are built.
"We will do as many of these things [in America] as we can do," Cook said. "And you can bet that we'll use the whole of our influence to do this."
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Cook revealed the information in a wide-ranging interview published Thursday by Bloomberg Businessweek. In it, he noted that Apple's ARM processors that power the iPhone and iPad are already made in the U.S., along with the Corning Gorilla Glass covers ? but he also revealed that next year, at least some Mac production will come to America.
"We've been working on this for a long time, and we were getting closer to it. It will happen in 2013," Cook said. "We're really proud of it. We could have quickly maybe done just assembly, but it's broader because we wanted to do something more substantial."
He revealed that Apple is planning to spend more than $100 million dollars to bring production of some of its Mac lineup to America. He also revealed that Apple will not be handling the production themselves, but that the company plans to work with other companies and invest its money.
But in an excerpt from Cook's interview set to air tonight on NBC's Rock Center, the CEO went even further and said that Apple would make one entire line of Macs in America. He declined to say specifically which lineup would be produced stateside.
"We?ve been working for years on doing more and more in the United States," Cook told NBC's Brian Williams. The full interview with Cook will air on tonight's episode at 10 p.m. Eastern.
Cook's comments come soon after his company's new iMacs began shipping, with some units labeled as being "Assembled in America." Previously, some build-to-order iMacs were built in the U.S., but with this year's models, some standard configurations have also been built domestically.
Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook visits a Foxconn iPhone production plant earlier this year.
In an interview at the "All Things D" conference in May, Cook said he would like for there to be Apple products built stateside. But he noticed that critics have placed an "intense focus on the final assembly" of Apple's products, rather than where the individual components are built.
"We will do as many of these things [in America] as we can do," Cook said. "And you can bet that we'll use the whole of our influence to do this."
Comments
I wonder if they are using the Mac to prime the factories, which will ultimately be used to produce TVs. Or maybe it will be the big, heavy Mac Pro made in the US, since they are a costly item anyway, so the cost of labor is a smallest fraction of the total.
The other option would be a highly automated factory doing something like the Mac Mini. The problem here is that I don't see $100 million going very far to start up such a factory from new.
Of course the third option is XMac. If production in America is possible then even an XMac is possible.
Quote:
Originally Posted by wizard69
Beat me to it. Mac Pros would be the most likely line to be built here, low volumes and high margins make it easy to do. Further if Apple is only investing $100 million that would likely handle Pro volumes easy.
The other option would be a highly automated factory doing something like the Mac Mini. The problem here is that I don't see $100 million going very far to start up such a factory from new.
Of course the third option is XMac. If production in America is possible then even an XMac is possible.
From his comment it's clear Apple is contributing to some other company that will actually be doing the production. If that company already has an existing facility the $100M may be all that's needed to dedicate a line/area to Apple. Other tech companies might also be using them. Where did Google have the Nexus7 done, which was also "US built"? Possible it's the same folks.
Pegatron would make sense with connections to both ASUS and Apple, coupled with a US presence already.
EDIT: More evidence that Pegatron will be doing the build. Check the address:
http://start.cortera.com/company/research/k9p9sqj5m/pegatron-usa/
Fremont is reported to be the the shipping source city for "built-in-the-USA" Macs.
Before anyone mentions the obvious, that all of this can be handled by software-based management controls, remember that the policies have been written by people with an interest in Windows-based systems where you can find a vendor who will build a PC anyway you want it built. Of course, you'll need to buy one every year after it breaks but that's not their problem.
Speaking of the word "their," it would be nice if the author understands the difference between there and their, "...Cook said he would like for their to be Apple products built stateside."
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rogifan
Doesn't it make sense to start with something small? And ramp up from there?
From the perspective of volume the Mac Pro is small. And probably why it got delayed to 2013. That all fits together as well as why they've been so cryptic over why the Mac Pro will be super awesome to be waiting for. Probably not some uber new design although I hope for a design refresh that allows them to fit into a rack without surgery but the fact it's made in the USA.
I would guess most Mac Pro purchases are in the US and amusingly this would give Apple an advantage for any government purchases with covered by some US good preference legislation (Fed, state or local governments have varied buy american legislation that sometimes applied).
"1933 Buy American creates a price preference that favors "domestic end products" from American firms on U.S. federal government contracts for:
Unmanufactured products mined or produced in the United States;
Manufactured products in which:
the cost of its U.S. components exceeds 50% of the cost of all components of the item and the product is manufactured in the United States (FAR Subpart 25.003)."
LOL. I bet the Xeons are fabbed in the US and more than 50% of the cost of the machine.
Dell and HP are gonna be annoyed if they have to get a waiver for every major workstation sale to the federal government. Those are some of the better margin items.
This makes me feel a little better when I get stuck on a US airline because of the stupid Fly America Act.
Quote:
In an interview at the "All Things D" conference in May, Cook said he would like for their to be Apple products built stateside. But he noticed that critics have placed an "intense focus on the final assembly" of Apple's products, rather than where the individual components are built.
Ugh. Who writes/edits this stuff?
Quote:
Originally Posted by rob53
I'd like to see the US plant be for custom configurations as well. This includes products destined for the US government that can't contain certain pieces of hardware (microphone, wireless, even disks). The mini can be opened up fairly easily to remove the disk and wireless while the new iMac is next to impossible. Give government installations the option to buy them the way they can use them or the Mac-haters will have the final, final nail driven into the Mac coffin for users like me. At least most MBP's are easy to deal with but even they are getting more complicated to extract certain parts.
http://lists.apple.com/archives/fed-talk/2011/Jan/msg00002.html
I wonder if they're getting some sort of tax break that will allow them to bring some of their cash back into the country.
Another vote for the Mac Pro. Not sure if it's been mentioned by others but size and weight of the machine would favor local production. Trans-Pacific transportation charges per unit have to be quite a bit more for a Mac Pro than, say, a Mac mini. I imagine the majority of Mac Pro sales are still in N. America, too. Lastly, anything that's heavily skewed to "build to order" (which I assume Mac Pros are) are best built close to the customer as the opportunity for bulk shipment of finished product is diminished.
I hope they would use raw material and natural resources in US as part of the design too. That would be unique and eco-friendly.
Okay, I'll be the first to say the obvious ... the quality of that line will probably be lower than the quality of the Asian manufactured stuff.
Quote:
Originally Posted by nht
http://lists.apple.com/archives/fed-talk/2011/Jan/msg00002.html
I know all about Holman's but until you see the process actually being done by them and then look at how they would open a new iMac, my suggestion makes a whole lot of sense. The newer MBPs are a breeze to open compared to the older ones Holman's had problems opening and getting the optical disk slot to properly close. The problem is, companies like this should not have to be put into this position, the computers should be able to be ordered the way we need them. Apple has the ability to do this, especially with a US plan configured to handle special configurations like these. As for Apple's unwillingness to fix vendor-adjusted computers, this adds fuel to my desire to have Apple stand behind everything they sell. What happen's if these vendors went out of business and I had purchased 1000 iMacs without hard drives (removed by Holman's)? Who takes care of the warranty now?
[/Quote]
It depends on many factors such as margin, QA, design and process (e.g., whether robots are involved)
Quote:
Originally Posted by nht
http://lists.apple.com/archives/fed-talk/2011/Jan/msg00002.html
See the post 9 edit. Pretty darn sure Pegatron will be building this, just as they were the likely US builder for Google's Nexus 7
http://www.electronista.com/articles/12/12/06/apple.returns.to.roots.to.build.new.imacs/
http://start.cortera.com/company/research/k9p9sqj5m/pegatron-usa/
iPerforma line is coming back. BWAHAHAHAHAHA