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corrections said:

ElCapitan said:

First of all there is a rude awakening across the planet of the insanity of shipping production of goods and services offshore, and putting all eggs in the Chinese basket.  The effect of the COVID-19 crisis is that suddenly all countries starts to act like countries again, and global sourcing has to a large extent collapsed. 

With the upcoming financial depression we just have seen the start of, people are going to first cut on subscriptions; cloud services, music, media streaming, software subscriptions, then anything premium.

People are going to get much more aware of purchasing products that creates jobs in their countries and not someone elsewhere. Equally they are going become much more focused on that their hard earned money don't stuff the coffers of international companies that hardly give anything back to their markets (taxes, job creation, local economic growth). 

Apple is doing its valuable creative, design, engineering, planning, product work domestically and shipping the routine low-value jobs elsewhere because nobody in the US is qualified to run precision manufacturing and basic labor and there's nowhere to do it and no supply chain to support it. 

This is the standard excuse for outsourcing but it doesn't hold true anymore. Sure the software is still mostly written in California, but Tim Cook has shown no reluctance in buying up companies who employ software engineers elsewhere, unlike Jobs who wanted everybody in Infinite Loop.

However are process engineers really a low value job? If so why cant it be done in the US and all the expertise is in Asia? A quick google informs me that 

Most entry-level process engineering jobs require a bachelor's degree in chemical, manufacturing or industrial engineering. 

Also

Becoming a Process Engineer Typically, a Bachelor of Science (BSc) degree in a related field (such as engineering, chemistry or material science) is required. Management experience or business qualifications with accompanying engineering awareness or experience can also provide a route into these positions

So a process engineer needs at the very least a bachelors degree in one of the hard STEM subjects, and possibly a business post graduate qualification or business experience. That doesn't sound all that low level to me. You used the passive voice there as well as in  there's "nowhere to do it [manufacturing] and no supply chain to support it.", but Apple in particular have contributed to this situation. 

Its also incorrect to say that the production of the iPhone is low skilled, Apple are clear that the precision processes they use are very high skilled and need to be changed every time there is an iPhone update. This clearly requires engineering talent. Not only that but most of the components in the iPhone depend on high skilled manufacturing processes themselves and most of the is either from Asian products manufactured in Asia, or US products manufactured in Asia. There are a few European products manufactured in Europe. In general US products are manufactured abroad, while most other manufacturers of iPhone components don't outsource. 

WarrenBuffduckh said:

More relevant to the Q. “ Will the COVID-19 disaster sink Apple's premium hardware?” is that we’re waiting, waiting and waiting for AirTile, AirPower, AppleHeadphone, AirPodsPro Lite, AppleGlasses, AppleCar, iTV, iPhone SE2, MacBook 14”, iMac, HomePod 2020. No, it’s not COVID-19 that is the (main) cause of delays - although it will certainly be attributed being so. The core problem is the dispersed focus on all the services mentioned, the CEO not obsessed with products, and the money addiction of the immense Tech Bureaucracy he created reaping fruits from Steve’s ideas. Steve said: “Stay lean and mean, stay foolish, focus on products” Tim did: “Become large and keep counting, focus on cash” Hence its inability to act as a lean, mean and innovative aggressor. It has become merely defensive, sadly, where keeping market share is key and innovation considered merely disruptive. On the individual employee level that translates “Think different” into “Think indifferent”.

I think Tim Cook is a pretty good manager of Apple, maybe the second best ever. After Steve and Tim  though, the rest were abysmal. You are right about the Products though, he isn't really into them. 

Beats said:

So they're re-releasing iPhone 8? WTF? We're supposed to be excited about it? Why not just call it what it is: iPhone 9.




Seriously was it that hard to do Apple?

What would they call the next one?

usersinceos1 said:

This could be my next iPhone.  I've been using a 1st Gen. SE since 2016.  The new SE has very nice specs.  I also prefer Touch ID to face recognition.  My only quibble is the camera bump.  Personally, I would have preferred no bump even at the cost of a poorer camera.

You probably need to read some old school detective stories or movies to brush up on the reasons for why that will never happen. 

larryjw said:

lkrupp said:

So for Apple to succeed it must let go of all of its security and privacy? Is that what the author is saying? The author seems to imply that unless Apple does this it is doomed. I guess that’s okay in a totalitarian dictatorship but what about democracies burdened with human rights and privacy protections?

Anyone who thinks ANY Chinese company is not monitored and controlled by the government is simply delusional.

One good thing that has come out of the pandemic so far is that people are realizing that almost all PPE is produced in China. The U.S. makes almost none of it, from masks, to ventilators, to hand sanitizer. Oh, and almost ALL generic drugs are manufactured in China too. That blood pressure or diabetes medication you take... made in and shipped from China. Because of cheap labor don’t you know. We now know that we in the U.S. are basically at China’s mercy economically. Maybe, just maybe, this crisis will open some eyes but I doubt it. Price trumps everything, just like the trolls who scream about Apple’s products being overpriced.

And as for the author’s claim that Google’s services are banned in China, I dispute that. As I recall Google made the decision to exit China because it would not acquiesce to the communist dictatorship’s demands.

First, most drugs, the common critical drugs on every ER cart are made in China OR India. 

But, not cheap labor but a lot of labor -- skilled labor. The number of people with a necessary skill in China would fill several football stadiums -- in the US, we might be able to fill the orchestra seats in a theater. 

That’s from Tim Cook. He was talking about process engineers. 

Whats happening here is what has happened multiple times in capitalism. Industry moves countries and the old de-industrialised country loses power. Britain was the workshop of the world in its heyday, and ruled the world. Then Germany gained industrial power and challenged Europe. After the world wars the U.K. lost most of its industry and the US and the USSR dominate as industrial powers, while Western Europe does ok. Then comes the end of the USSR and it’s looting by ultra capitalists so the US ends up the sole super power. But It’s the iron law of capitalism that industry moves to cheaper areas of production - and Asia has taken over industry.  Extricating from that situation is nigh impossible so the future is probably an Asian century.