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How the US Lost Out On iPhone Work

Hugh Pickens writes "Not long ago, Apple boasted that its products were made in America. Today, almost all of the 70 million iPhones, 30 million iPads and 59 million other products Apple sold last year are manufactured overseas. 'It isn't just that workers are cheaper abroad,' write Charles Duhig and Keith Bradsher. 'Rather, Apple's executives believe the vast scale of overseas factories as well as the flexibility, diligence and industrial skills of foreign workers have outpaced their American counterparts so much that "Made in the U.S.A." is no longer a viable option for most Apple products.' Apple executives say that going overseas, at this point, is their only option and recount the time Apple redesigned the iPhone's screen at the last minute, forcing an assembly line overhaul. A foreman immediately roused 8,000 workers inside the company's dormitories, and then each employee was given a biscuit and a cup of tea, guided to a workstation and within half an hour started a 12-hour shift fitting glass screens into beveled frames. Within 96 hours, the plant was producing over 10,000 iPhones a day. 'The speed and flexibility is breathtaking,' says one Apple executive. 'There's no American plant that can match that.' Apple's success has benefited the U.S. economy by empowering entrepreneurs and creating jobs at companies like cellular providers and businesses shipping Apple products. But ultimately, Apple executives say curing unemployment is not Apple's job. 'We don't have an obligation to solve America's problems. Our only obligation is making the best product possible.'"

6 of 1,303 comments (clear)

  1. Re:WTF... by MagusSlurpy · · Score: 4, Funny

    Better than getting a flogging, which is what the slow ones got!

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  2. Re:WTF... by TheRaven64 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Clearly they hired English managers...

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  3. Re:An interesting metric by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    Why do American's need own places when in Asia it's perfectly fine to live with other people, and actually even preferred way of living.

    Heck, I don't even need to go Google that. I can just read your posts on this thread and get the answer. It is apparently because we are all entitled assholes. Who wants to live with other assholes? Not us!

  4. Re:Yeah...but by SlippyToad · · Score: 3, Funny

    IF we keep putting politicians beholden to the Unions in power (in all levels), this problem will continue.

    Shut up, Mitt.

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  5. Re:An interesting metric by FreeCoder · · Score: 3, Funny

    You're seriously comparing living with other people to torture and abuse? Social situations must be really hard for you.

  6. Re:Prove your absurd prices by Samantha+Wright · · Score: 3, Funny

    What about the eighteen months before that? :)

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