Assembled in India with China-made parts... LOL
relationship with has been described as “untenable,” as the company faces criticism from senators on both sides of the political aisle. But unraveling that relationship will take more than 20 years, according to one former Apple engineer tasked with finding ways to automate production.
There is some good news today, as more than a dozen key Apple suppliers were granted permission to expand their work in , but ironically this only served to underline the company’s dependence on China …
Background
written on of Apple’s dependence on China, as well as on the company faces in addressing this.
The made even clearer the risks of the company having most of its manufacturing eggs in one basket. Recent COVID-19-related disruption at the was estimated to have cost the company a .
India is seen as Apple’s main hope when it comes to relocating production outside of China. A report last year suggested that , and another one this week indicated that .
But a new report suggests that Apple’s relationship with China could remain as intertwined as ever for at least another couple of decades.
Apple’s relationship with China “untenable”
The reports that there is bipartisan concern that Apple is effectively forced to do the bidding of the Communist Party, and that this situation simply cannot continue.
Progress in India… but with Chinese companies
Apple’s attempts to increase production in India got a boost in the form of some 14 suppliers being given government permission to expand their operations, reports . But the catch is that these are Chinese companies.
Progress is also being hampered by political tensions between India and China, in the wake of violent conflicts over .
“Will take at least 20 years”
One of the key barriers to the large-scale relocation of production lines is that the final assembly process is still very labor-intensive. Only yesterday it was revealed that iPhone production lines require as equivalent ones for Android phones for Chinese brands.
Apple has been working with Foxconn for many years on , with dreams of – but one former engineer tasked with this project says that it’s at least 20 years away.
I think last year some tech junkie in Malaysia figured out a serial number system that tracks which iPhones are made in India so that fellow Malaysians could avoid shelling out cash on the obviously superior quality controlled models.
