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Google On-shores Manufacturing of the Nexus Q
An anonymous reader sends this quote from the NY Times:
"Etched into the base of Google's new wireless home media player that was introduced on Wednesday is its most intriguing feature. On the underside of the Nexus Q is a simple inscription: Designed and Manufactured in the U.S.A. The Google executives and engineers who decided to build the player here are engaged in an experiment in American manufacturing. 'We've been absent for so long, we decided, "Why don't we try it and see what happens?" ... It has become accepted wisdom that consumer electronics products can no longer be made in the United States. During the last decade, abundant low-cost Chinese labor and looser environmental regulations have virtually erased what was once a vibrant American industry. ... At $299, the device costs significantly more than competing systems from companies like Apple and Roku. Google says this is in part because of the higher costs of manufacturing in the United States, but the company expects to bring the price down as it increases volume. The company is hoping that consumers will be willing to pay more, though it is unlikely that the “Made in America” lineage will be part of any marketing campaign.'"
"Keeping jobs on American soil. There's a phone for that."
"low cost Chinese labor and looser environmental regulations"
Those aren't the only factors. The fact of the matter is that pretty much everything is clustered in SE Asia nowadays, and that the labor market is a lot more dynamic. Need slightly shorter screws? Call the factory down the street, they'll start arriving within the next hour. Changed the specs for your unibody case? The factory downtown will deliver new ones the same day. Need a new assembly plant? Build it and staff it by next week. Everything is done locally, reducing ETA and shipping costs in the process. These things also count tremendously.
devices are made entirely by robot. chips, transistors, etc.
but *assembly* of a phone or tablet or pc is still by hand.
so it DOES MATTER that G is making this in the US. as much as I dislike G these days, I'll give them a solid attaboy! for this one!
good job, G. unexpected but good job nonetheless.
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There should be a rule on Slashdot that no paywall links are allowed to be posted. How can we comment on an article that we cannot see?
Proverbs 21:19
Yeah, though it's hard to bug anyone about getting them mixed up. Nexus S, Nexus Q, Nexus 7... uhg. What would've been so wrong with: Nexus Phone, Nexus TV, Nexus Tablet? Then just call later generations, "second generation", etc.
Someone over at Google needs to hire away a marketing genius from Apple and give them the reigns on public facing decisions like that.
Well Apple keeps Jobs in American Soil, That has to count for something.
"The company is hoping that consumers will be willing to pay more, though it is unlikely that the “Made in America” lineage will be part of any marketing campaign.'"
People excoriate execs and companies who move parts of their businesses offshore (often rightly, and also often without questioning the policies that contribute to it often being cheaper and easier to employ people thousands of miles away in other countries).
I use to work in manufacturing (wrote machine vision algorithms back then...fun stuff) and the cost can be very competitive with overseas. The key is design for manufacturing and automating as much as possible.
Labor isn't your highest expense when you have high-speed chip shooting lines and automated assembly processes. For a high volume builder such as Apple, the economies of scale work in it's favor too. Low volume manufacturing needs a board house to do the work otherwise capital equipment goes under utilized. That's not Apple or Google's problem.
I'm sure Apple and everyone's designs fit in the designed for manufacturability category so why not assemble in the states. Invest the capital on equipment and put some assemblers back to work!
I know having a lack of locally sourced parts (they are all over seas now, right?) will make it hard, but I would love to see leading brands bring manufacturing back to the states. For Apple, this would be a blessing in minimizing knock-offs and leaks anyway and a little less margin isn't going to put them out of business.
I love the sound of distortion in the morning -- webcommando