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Apple In Talks To Buy Cobalt Directly From Miners (bloomberg.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Bloomberg: Apple Inc. is in talks to buy long-term supplies of cobalt directly from miners for the first time, according to people familiar with the matter, seeking to ensure it will have enough of the key battery ingredient amid industry fears of a shortage driven by the electric vehicle boom. The iPhone maker is one of the world's largest end users of cobalt for the batteries in its gadgets, but until now it has left the business of buying the metal to the companies that make its batteries. The talks show that the tech giant is keen to ensure that cobalt supplies for its iPhone and iPad batteries are sufficient, with the rapid growth in battery demand for electric vehicles threatening to create a shortage of the raw material. About a quarter of global cobalt production is used in smartphones. Apple is seeking contracts to secure several thousand metric tons of cobalt a year for five years or longer. Its first discussions on cobalt deals with miners were more than a year ago, and it may end up deciding not to go ahead with any deal, another person said.
Sorry, the Russian army won't let us.
We only do bitcoin these days.
Sincerely,
The Miners
"Nobody's buying the iPhone X."
Nobody? Just 30,000,000 nobodies according to Fortune Magazine's latest data:
http://fortune.com/2018/01/23/...
I guess you're in your own private little bubble where the real world doesn't intrude.
I'd be ok if we just exiled him to Russia with his junk bond sons...
Time to invest in potatoes! I hear they can power a clock!
So how long until we have Apple branded (because they have to do everything in-house and vertically integrated) "private military contractors" being deployed to DR Congo? You know, to "help improve security"...
Hey... I'm NOBODY now! Yahoo! Always wanted to be anonymous....
How can I buy this cryptocurrency before it skyrockets!! Quick!
Okay then. Apple gets into another area that exploits child labor.
There have been articles recently about children being used to mine colalt.
If Apple somehow gets tied to this ist could be a PR disaster.
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2016/jan/19/children-as-young-as-seven-mining-cobalt-for-use-in-smartphones-says-amnesty
Reminds me of when Ford used to buy iron ore for their smelters to make the iron and steel for their cars. Iron ore in one end , cars out the other.
Maybe it's been asked, but cant old phone batteries be recycled into new ones. Sure, not one-to-one, but can't some old batteries get added to the new ones?
If not, then this whole "renewable" energy thing is all for naught.
A new cryptocoin that's being mined?
It little behooves the best of us to comment on the rest of us.
I think Putin is already exiled to Russia...
Are we sure it is miners and not minors? (also, one does not exclude the other)
Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
Apple could probably buy some mining companies outright.
Want to reliable purchase primary products, don't buy the product, buy the producer. Apple should simply buy the required mine, in a safe, stable reliable location to ensure it always has supply. So https://investingnews.com/dail... buy a mine in either number 3 Australia or number 4 Canada or both. You have guaranteed supply and in fact in the mine does not have to be that profitable you can futz with supplies to screw your competitors and still get it at the original price, the capital return on your mining investment. Mines are not that expensive and owning a couple one in each of the most reliable countries, would give you supplies for decades even centuries, dependent upon mine size and how much you allowed to be sold beyond your own uses, none possibly. Interesting bank, a mineral bank, buying the estimated volume of in ground resource for future use, if you are cashed up, quite a solid capital investment. Buy the mine, not the mineral that comes out of the mine and of course contract out the mining itself, so much less hassle than doing it.
Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
Buy the mines with Tesla and other companies.
I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
Are you nobody, too?
Then there's a pair of us! Don't tell!
They'd banish us, you know.
If so much cobalt is going to be used by the electric vehicle industry, wouldn't they also want a direct source if they themselves were entering that industry?
So Apple won't much then...since they are only a small portion of the global phone market these days (~11%). :-P
and cut the middle man
I think Tesla might have something to say about this.
So what now, will we get a competitive bidding process to see who can monopolise the supply of lithium, cobalt, etc?
Vertical integration going a little far, I fear.
"Cats like plain crisps"
Didn't mcdonalds start there own farms years ago so they could own the cattle? I'm surprised Apple with their billions hadn't thought of this before.
my karma will be here long after I'm gone
This appears to make sense both by itself and given Tim Cook's previous work with Apple's supply chain - like buying up inventory of many smartphone/tablet components. It could be an opportunity to address pollution and other issue with cobalt mining.
I listen to both RIAA and non-RIAA stuff if I like the music, tangential business/politics nonwithstanding.
Excellent I have Cobalt Cryptocurrency to sell, been mining it for months on 100 GPUs. Oh, wait what? Mining?
Are we sure it is miners and not minors? (also, one does not exclude the other)
Depending on where they mine it it might be a distinction without a difference.
That said I'm pretty sure Apple would be sensitive to the PR shit storm that would erupt if they were found to be directly buying from child labor slaves. I'm also sure at some level they care about the problem but caring doesn't equal solving. Apple does have the resources to deal with it (they could buy the mine) if they are so inclined but it will be interesting to see how much they really care.
You have guaranteed supply and in fact in the mine does not have to be that profitable you can futz with supplies to screw your competitors and still get it at the original price, the capital return on your mining investment.
That's only true if your competition cannot get the product elsewhere. Roughly half the world's supply comes from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. And it's generally a bad idea to buy an asset that isn't profitable unless you have no other choice for strategic reasons. Its the same reason you can't buy an oil well and charge whatever price you want.
Mines are not that expensive
Where on Earth did you get that silly notion? Operating a mine is VERY expensive, Huge capital costs and even with a lot of automation a lot of labor costs too. Not to mention the danger involved. Now Apple has the money to afford it but owning and operating a mine isn't a trivial proposition.
Your basic premise that Apple should consider buying a mine is reasonable enough but your supporting arguments aren't good ones. If cobalt is a strategic resource for Apple then buying a mine to ensure a supply is an idea worth considering even if they have to do it at a (modest) loss. The country that is the primary producer (DRC) is politically unstable and corrupt so it could make a lot of sense. There also is the fact that Apple has a huge war chest of cash that sooner or later they will need to do something with. Vertically integrating is an idea that can make a lot of sense if properly done.
I think I'm sick of cryptocurrencies.
What relation is there with minors and the business of cobalt?
Explaining the joke:
It's a black humour remark about the fact that child labor is still happening a lot in the mining business in developing countries.
"Sufficiently advanced satire is indistinguishable from reality." - [Tips: 1DrYakQDKCQ6y52z6QbnkxHXAocMZJE61o ]
...can the minors who are the miners sign contacts with Apple?
> The iPhone maker is one of the world's largest end users of cobalt for the batteries in its gadgets
That makes complete sense, as nobody else makes batteries for Apple's gadgets. Can you even *buy* iPhone batteries from anybody *but* Apple?
Or did TFS actually mean that they're one of the world's largest end users of cobalt, period--*regardless of purpose*?