Apple CEO Tim Cook: We Want to Continue Making the Mac Pro in the United States

[briloronmacrumo]

So why does Apple need an import tariff exemption if, as Tim Cook says, Apple is planning to build the Mac Pro in the USA?

 

[LordVic]

It’s my understanding they shoot for 30% margins. Does that sound accurate to everyone?

also just as FYI, in case you didn't see it earlier, The financials were also released today.

While Apple claims they cannot afford to do this they took in 10BILLION in gross profit on 55BILLION revenues. Margins for the quarter were 38%

Apple can ABSOLUTELY afford to do this, even if it eats a couple percentage points off that 38% gross margin overall and still remain an extremely profitable enterprise.

These numbers are also during their typical "SLOW" quarter. And we're also talking about a single, low volume, high margin product that makes up likely as little as 5% of their total revenues.

anyone claiming Apple cannot afford to do this and will result in losses instead of profits does NOT HAVE A CLUE about business at all and is just repeating nonsense rhetoric. (not you, but others are)

 

[Glockworkorange]

I'd like to believe so.

Need to find it again, I had found a report that claimed that Tim Cook's stock options when they vest, has metrics pegged to it. If the stock price on the market is at a certain value on that day, he gets X amount more as bonus.

This ties him to be directly benefitted to prop up the stock price as high as possible for his own personal wealth. Since He's not actually paid directly by Apple's actual performance, and its' directly related to stock, it is a bit like a conflict of interest. His decision making is clearly going to be on maximizing the opinions of Apple stock on the open market and not necessarily towards product decisions.

Or more like those product decisions are keyed to maximization of short term value for stock market gain rather than maximizing value of the products for the consumer.

that rubs me wrong. it's avarice. and it's greasy.

Mildly slimy.

 

[mikethemartian]

Nobody would’ve bought the XS if they did that. Max, sure, but why buy the small one when you can have a very similar last year’s model at a nice discount?
[doublepost=1564538853][/doublepost]
When people say anti-Christian bigotry is just a myth, I will make sure to link them over here.

In neither of my posts do I specify Christians yet you immediately took it as me persecuting Christians in particular when those same edicts occur in other religions including religions many Christians oppose. Yet you perceived it narrowly solely as an attack on (I assume) your own specific religion. Again the inclination to claim to be persecuted which so many self proclaimed righteous people use as justification to really attack others.

 

[Glockworkorange]

also just as FYI, in case you didn't see it earlier, The financials were also released today.

While Apple claims they cannot afford to do this they took in 10BILLION in gross profit on 55BILLION revenues. Margins for the quarter were 38%

Apple can ABSOLUTELY afford to do this, even if it eats a couple percentage points off that 38% gross margin overall and still remain an extremely profitable enterprise.

These numbers are also during their typical "SLOW" quarter. And we're also talking about a single, low volume, high margin product that makes up likely as little as 5% of their total revenues.

anyone claiming Apple cannot afford to do this and will result in losses instead of profits does NOT HAVE A CLUE about business at all and is just repeating nonsense rhetoric. (not you, but others are)

Who says they can’t afford it? Of course they can afford it. If someone says Apple can’t
do this or that, they’re mistaken and maybe a little naive.

They don’t WANT to do lower margins or prices because Cook dances for the investors.

Listen, I don’t care. They can do whatever they want—free country and all. Make as much money as humanly possible. I don’t care.

But please Tim Apple, please stop telling us about your passion for the environment and human rights and this and that or other other thing. It’s all bullxxxx and hypocrisy, and he knows it.

 

[DeepIn2U]

Don’t buy the products. I was jus watching a 1999 Steve Jobs video where they debuted the 14 inch PowerBook. The 8 gb model was $3500.00. In 1999. Their prices have always been exorbitant and over the top. I know Tim Apple acts all SJW, but Apple is and always been Uber expensive and the people assembling the products have always been paid a pittance in comparison to us.

I don’t think they see it the same way we do and you have to understand they live and work in a different culture and a radically different government and social system than us in the West. We’re arrogant and a bit short sighted to compare their existence with ours, despite how self righteous it makes us feel. Apples and oranges.

If you’re skiing about the PowerBook G4 Titanium or TiBook, here in a Toronto Canada the cost for the 8GB was $3299 before taxes. I know apples pricing model and reluctance for discounts even with product not updated for 4yrs, ahem MacMini.

I was throwing a punch relatedness to the price for a sub component of a complete product ... of the stand. Apple has never charged for Cinema Display stands as a separate cost even the 4K models sold last year from LG and those has VESA mounts as well.

Way to misinterpret my dig.

I don’t need the Mac Pro and the woah from the wwdc crowd as well as the quick dash off stage from the presenter shows how ridiculous that part of the announcement was. Horrible move by apple. They’ll be fine of course.

 

[Glockworkorange]

In neither of my posts do I specify Christians yet you immediately took it as me persecuting Christians in particular when those same edicts occur in other religions including religions many Christians oppose. Yet you perceived it narrowly solely as an attack on (I assume) your own specific religion. Again the inclination to claim to be persecuted which so many self proclaimed righteous people use as justification to really attack others.

If you walk that back any faster perhaps you’ll travel back in time so you can re-think posting it in the first place.

Or not. There’s really no excuse for it and I don’t really care what you have to say in defense. I don’t debate hateful ideas.

 

[Glockworkorange]

If you’re skiing about the PowerBook G4 Titanium or TiBook, here in a Toronto Canada the cost for the 8GB was $3299 before taxes. I know apples pricing model and reluctance for discounts even with product not updated for 4yrs, ahem MacMini.

I was throwing a punch relatedness to the price for a sub component of a complete product ... of the stand. Apple has never charged for Cinema Display stands as a separate cost even the 4K models sold last year from LG and those has VESA mounts as well.

Way to misinterpret my dig.

I don’t need the Mac Pro and the woah from the wwdc crowd as well as the quick dash off stage from the presenter shows how ridiculous that part of the announcement was. Horrible move by apple. They’ll be fine of course.

I see. Stand corrected. Carry on.

 

[LordVic]

Who says they can’t afford it? Of course they can afford it. If someone says Apple can’t
do this or that, they’re mistaken and maybe a little naive.

They don’t WANT to do lower margins or prices because Cook dances for the investors.

Listen, I don’t care. They can do whatever they want—free country and all. Make as much money as humanly possible. I don’t care.

But please Tim Apple, please stop telling us about your passion for the environment and human rights and this and that or other other thing. It’s all bullxxxx and hypocrisy, and he knows it.

And this is overall my problem with Tim as well.

He's a liar. He speaks out of both sides of his face when it suits business. He's scream about the planet (which I agree with but lets save the climate stuff for antoher thread), while at the same time pushing for consumer disposable machines and hardware replaced yearly.

He speaks about things liek "we cannot afford to do production locally" while the SAME DAY boasting about massive profits.

he talk a huge talk but overall, he doesn't walk it for a lot of his stuff. Every platitude he offers us "liberals" feels cheap and two faced while pushing profits above all else.

His blatant lies about the battery throttling he was directly caught making.

And maybe i'm also in a grumpy mood, but his behaviour comes across as pure avarice.

And yes, Free country, (here in Canuckistan too), And since I've grown to really hate the way he's led Apple, I've chosen to stop spending my money on Apple Products.

 

[DeepIn2U]

Nobody would’ve bought the XS if they did that. Max, sure, but why buy the small one when you can have a very similar last year’s model at a nice discount?

I beg to differ. This same practice I’ve mentioned work VERY well since the iPhone 3GS until the iPhone 8. Challenge all that revenue, profits and sales and come at me lol. This alone answers all questions n rebuttal you’d have.

For a customer evaluating the X on refurbished in the USA vs the Xr or the Xr vs the Max and you’ve been holding onto an iPhone 5S or 6 price eventually wins. Size is larger on all vs the 5S or 6 but pricing vs features gets you. Marketing and discounts heavily helped the Xr while the XS outside the USA barely got discounts. The X could’ve been similarly priced to the Xr and well supporting your debate maybe the similarities is exactly why Apple ended the X for retail sale when the XS debuted.

maybe the XS should’ve had a lot more features and much better hardware.
[doublepost=1564541188][/doublepost]

And this is overall my problem with Tim as well.

He's a liar. He speaks out of both sides of his face when it suits business. He's scream about the planet (which I agree with but lets save the climate stuff for antoher thread), while at the same time pushing for consumer disposable machines and hardware replaced yearly.

He speaks about things liek "we cannot afford to do production locally" while the SAME DAY boasting about massive profits.

he talk a huge talk but overall, he doesn't walk it for a lot of his stuff. Every platitude he offers us "liberals" feels cheap and two faced while pushing profits above all else.

His blatant lies about the battery throttling he was directly caught making.

And maybe i'm also in a grumpy mood, but his behaviour comes across as pure avarice.

And yes, Free country, (here in Canuckistan too), And since I've grown to really hate the way he's led Apple, I've chosen to stop spending my money on Apple Products.

avarice ... love that word, thank you I learned something new.

 

[swingerofbirch]

The trash can was only "assembled in USA." For it to have the official "Made in USA" there are different rules they'd have to follow. I don't know them exactly, but a certain amount of the parts would have to be made in the USA. Just assembling it here wouldn't be enough.

 

[LordVic]

avarice ... love that word, thank you I learned something new.

I'd have used "profiteering" but due likely to extreme lobbying efforts by Apple, imost of what they do isn't illegal

 

[PickUrPoison]

So why does Apple need an import tariff exemption if, as Tim Cook says, Apple is planning to build the Mac Pro in the USA?

Some of the parts that need to come here are imported from China and are therefore subject to tariffs, even though the Mac Pro would be assembled here.

 

[Glockworkorange]

And this is overall my problem with Tim as well.

He's a liar. He speaks out of both sides of his face when it suits business. He's scream about the planet (which I agree with but lets save the climate stuff for antoher thread), while at the same time pushing for consumer disposable machines and hardware replaced yearly.

He speaks about things liek "we cannot afford to do production locally" while the SAME DAY boasting about massive profits.

he talk a huge talk but overall, he doesn't walk it for a lot of his stuff. Every platitude he offers us "liberals" feels cheap and two faced while pushing profits above all else.

His blatant lies about the battery throttling he was directly caught making.

And maybe i'm also in a grumpy mood, but his behaviour comes across as pure avarice.

And yes, Free country, (here in Canuckistan too), And since I've grown to really hate the way he's led Apple, I've chosen to stop spending my money on Apple Products.

I agree with all of it. The two faced part especially. A lot of people buy it hook, line and sinker. I won’t get too deep into it, but even his environmental activism is smoke and mirrors designed for the social media age and sound bites on for the Times or Post. Ditto with the op-Ed "coming out." If memory serves, that was right after the Obergerfell decision effectively legalizing gay marriage. Hey, good for him, but is there a less risky time to take a stand on social issues? Everyone’ Facebook avatar was already rainbow when he did it.

I’m glad he doesn’t talk all that much during keynotes because he kind of makes me ill.
[doublepost=1564543467][/doublepost]

I beg to differ. This same practice I’ve mentioned work VERY well since the iPhone 3GS until the iPhone 8. Challenge all that revenue, profits and sales and come at me lol. This alone answers all questions n rebuttal you’d have.

For a customer evaluating the X on refurbished in the USA vs the Xr or the Xr vs the Max and you’ve been holding onto an iPhone 5S or 6 price eventually wins. Size is larger on all vs the 5S or 6 but pricing vs features gets you. Marketing and discounts heavily helped the Xr while the XS outside the USA barely got discounts. The X could’ve been similarly priced to the Xr and well supporting your debate maybe the similarities is exactly why Apple ended the X for retail sale when the XS debuted.

maybe the XS should’ve had a lot more features and much better hardware.
[doublepost=1564541188][/doublepost]

avarice ... love that word, thank you I learned something new.

"maybe the XS should’ve had a lot more features and much better hardware."

I can’t argue with this.

 

[ipponrg]

And this is overall my problem with Tim as well.

He's a liar. He speaks out of both sides of his face when it suits business. He's scream about the planet (which I agree with but lets save the climate stuff for antoher thread), while at the same time pushing for consumer disposable machines and hardware replaced yearly.

He speaks about things liek "we cannot afford to do production locally" while the SAME DAY boasting about massive profits.

he talk a huge talk but overall, he doesn't walk it for a lot of his stuff. Every platitude he offers us "liberals" feels cheap and two faced while pushing profits above all else.

His blatant lies about the battery throttling he was directly caught making.

And maybe i'm also in a grumpy mood, but his behaviour comes across as pure avarice.

And yes, Free country, (here in Canuckistan too), And since I've grown to really hate the way he's led Apple, I've chosen to stop spending my money on Apple Products.

I think that is also what bothers me the most. His actions are literally RIGHT in front of people's eyes and deliver a very different message than his words. However, certain people either look away or focus on that one tiny detail that convinces them that Apple is 100% fighting for the people.

I don't know if he is 100% avarice. I do find it humorous that in the main forum certain individuals have been spouting how much cash Apple has in the bank on top of profit. As a stock holder (thanks for the pump and dump volatility), I definitely feel he's the right person for that. The money moves with his mouth. But as a current Apple consumer, I have no intentions of renewing my hardware any time soon.

 

[mikethemartian]

If you walk that back any faster perhaps you’ll travel back in time so you can re-think posting it in the first place.

Or not. There’s really no excuse for it and I don’t really care what you have to say in defense. I don’t debate hateful ideas.

I’m not walking anything back. Compliance is not the same thing as ethics. Anyone who needs a greater power whether a deity, a government, their parents, etc. to keep them from doing something which is obviously wrong is not coming from a place of morality. They are only complying and when a time comes that truly tests their ethics I wouldn’t place a great confidence in them taking the ethical path. I don’t see how that is hateful to point that out.

 

[nicho]

Having money isn’t going to suddenly make it so the US has the proper workforce and facilities to do so.

It could help fund sizeable relocation packages for the people currently making them in China.

 

[Justanotherfanboy]

Really? You're saying money can't buy qualified labor and facilities? We can build jetliners in the USA but we can't assemble the components of a computer here?

Try Google.

I suggest you familiarize yourself with a company called “Foxconn”.
There should be a wealth of information about it!!!

For example, did you know that the largest iPhone production facility employs 400,000 employees?
Wow! That’s a big number, huh?
Let’s put it into perspective, shall we?

Obviously, a facility that size would need to kinda be in the middle of nowhere... we’re talking about the population of a city descending upon it on a daily basis.
But for nice round numbers.... let’s pretend it could be put smack dab in the middle of Los Angeles. That’s a big city, right?
I believe the Los Angeles population is about 4 million.
Easy math! =)
You just get one out of every ten people living in the city of LA to start working at Foxconn, & your idea (If I can even call it such) will work fine.

Hopefully your mind went “Wait... that would never work, I mean are there even that many unemployed? what’s the chances of literally every single one of them wanting to work there & appropriate candidates? Huh, maybe I should Google more. Wow, it seems like Foxconn, even in densely populated China has to run fleets of buses miles into other provinces even, to collect up a workforce that size. This doesn’t seem remotely feasible in America”.

Further... I don’t feign to know what you and any of your friends and family do for a living, but I would hazard a guess near zero of them have repetitive motion production laborer jobs.
The type of people that usually do that work here are high school drop outs and felons.... and they HATE their jobs. We’re taught in America that creativity & freedom in the workplace are hallmarks of success. Nobody here is going to proudly state at a dinner party “I put a single speaker in iPhone housings thousands of times a night”. That job would be performed here, begrudgingly, with heavy complaining, to the lowest acceptable rate, with very little pride in the work, because our society doesn’t value that type of work. Now, switch to China... the above proudly exclaimed statement may illicit comments like... “Really? How impressive & fastidious! Would you like to meet my daughter? She’s unmarried, you know...”.
Their ENTIRE SOCIETY is set up for this type of work to be of higher quality there!!!! Step outside your American bubble & try to fathom other cultures. It’ll reward you in many ways... having the business acumen to quite easily parse why iPhone production in America is near impossible is but one small benefit, sir!

 

[code-m]

I have but 1 valid argument about him being a supply chain guru:

Cancelling the iPhone X va continuing it in production alongside the XS/XS Max yet at a reduced price vs spending R&D for an LCD Xr model. Three models using the same OLED panel would have reduced cost on all 3.

I suspect Apple only ordered two sizes of OLED from Samsung, could they have ordered a 6.1” possibly however that would not sit well with people who would only see the second camera as a differentiator for a lower cost.

Apple should have just replaced the SE with an OLED and bezel-less larger screen then XS and Max. The XR has a clear advantage of battery life. Or maybe an SE LiquidRetina.

These sizes are overlapping and meant to confuse to steer the consumer to a particular model. Why pay more for an XS when you can get a larger screen for less, how many will actually notice the lower DPI or contrast in daily usage.

 

[LordVic]

Try Google.

I suggest you familiarize yourself with a company called “Foxconn”.
There should be a wealth of information about it!!!

For example, did you know that the largest iPhone production facility employs 400,000 employees?
Wow! That’s a big number, huh?
Let’s put it into perspective, shall we?

Obviously, a facility that size would need to kinda be in the middle of nowhere... we’re talking about the population of a city descending upon it on a daily basis.
But for nice round numbers.... let’s pretend it could be put smack dab in the middle of Los Angeles. That’s a big city, right?
I believe the Los Angeles population is about 4 million.
Easy math! =)
You just get one out of every ten people living in the city of LA to start working at Foxconn, & your idea (If I can even call it such) will work fine.

Hopefully your mind went “Wait... that would never work, I mean are there even that many unemployed? what’s the chances of literally every single one of them wanting to work there & appropriate candidates? Huh, maybe I should Google more. Wow, it seems like Foxconn, even in densely populated China has to run fleets of buses miles into other provinces even, to collect up a workforce that size. This doesn’t seem remotely feasible in America”.

Further... I don’t feign to know what you and any of your friends and family do for a living, but I would hazard a guess near zero of them have repetitive motion production laborer jobs.
The type of people that usually do that work here are high school drop outs and felons.... and they HATE their jobs. We’re taught in America that creativity & freedom in the workplace are hallmarks of success. Nobody here is going to proudly state at a dinner party “I put a single speaker in iPhone housings thousands of times a night”. That job would be performed here, begrudgingly, with heavy complaining, to the lowest acceptable rate, with very little pride in the work, because our society doesn’t value that type of work. Now, switch to China... the above proudly exclaimed statement may illicit comments like... “Really? How impressive & fastidious! Would you like to meet my daughter? She’s unmarried, you know...”.
Their ENTIRE SOCIETY is set up for this type of work to be of higher quality there!!!! Step outside your American bubble & try to fathom other cultures. It’ll reward you in many ways... having the business acumen to quite easily parse why iPhone production in America is near impossible is but one small benefit, sir!

Did you know that this is related to the Mac Pro, and not the iPhone?

the Mac Pro sells in volumes of thousands. This does not require a 400,000 person manufacturing plant.

using hyperbolic statements like this shwos a lack of knowledge of the product line and what manunfacturing is requiring.

however, there are 300+ Million americans that work in every sector from high end multi-millionare designers, to the average person working minimum wage at McDonalds.

your logic seems to imply that the US only has high paid people and not a full range of available employment opportunities.

YOU might not want to put together mac pros in a ware house for a living. But many people are perfectly willing to do it if it means a job and food on the table.

There is no shortage of skill or labour in the US. Just a shortage of employers willing to take a couple less percentage points of profit.

And yes, there are more than enough unemployed peopel to fill 400,000 jobs. Based on current unemployed rate, there are approximately 7.5 Millione unemployed americans this year

 

[Justanotherfanboy]

Mildly slimy.

Call me naive, if you wish... but I actually feel like Tim is a fairly honest guy.
I believed Steve about his passion for the company. I believe Tim too.
I feel like Tim is DEFINITELY a company man. I don’t believe he could be lured off his position by anyone, for any amount of money. He lives simply. He has a plan to give the entirety of his wealth away (sans the college fund for his nephew). He spends SO little of his wealth. What possible reason would he have to prop up stock artificially, if he’s not planning on jumping ship, & doesn’t seem to be primarily motivated by financial reasons whatsoever?
I do believe he’s a diehard “bleed six colors” Apple guy.
And I do believe him when he says “I want Apple to make simply the best product available in every category we’re in... & if we do that- we don’t have to watch the stock price... we believe all that will follow.”.
I doubt he checks the stock price multiple times daily, wringing his hands, is what I’m saying... lol.

 

[LordVic]

Call me naive, if you wish... but I actually feel like Tim is a fairly honest guy.
I believed Steve about his passion for the company. I believe Tim too.
I feel like Tim is DEFINITELY a company man. I don’t believe he could be lured off his position by anyone, for any amount of money. He lives simply. He has a plan to give the entirety of his wealth away (sans the college fund for his nephew). He spends SO little of his wealth. What possible reason would he have to prop up stock artificially, if he’s not planning on jumping ship, & doesn’t seem to be primarily motivated by financial reasons whatsoever?
I do believe he’s a diehard “bleed six colors” Apple guy.
And I do believe him when he says “I want Apple to make simply the best product available in every category we’re in... & if we do that- we don’t have to watch the stock price... we believe all that will follow.”.
I doubt he checks the stock price multiple times daily, wringing his hands, is what I’m saying... lol.

you're free to believe that.

But your post above spoke of things that were highly inaccurate that wasn't related to that. you were trying to make excuses for what he was saying, when those excuses were extremely full of holes.

 

[Jim Lahey]

Mac Pro will be such a low volume machine that I doubt it will create a great many jobs wherever it’s built. At the end of the day, the supply chain and assembly location are business decisions. Apple are a business. They aren’t in the business of losing shareholders money by making bad decisions just to placate a minority who probably won’t even buy the product.

 

[BvizioN]

You mean...

"we would love to make the Mac pro in the United states, I just don't want to because I am full of greed and refuse to accept a slightly lower stock price"

Or it could be that the US is crap at building these things?

 

[paul4339]

Apple already employs 50k+ workers in the US, many are designers and engineers. It makes sense to employ those jobs in the US.

Sure, it’ll be nice to employ some assembly in the US. But why should they be obligated?

Should they be obligated to move Silicon Valley Mac Pro engineers and designers to, say, China? The same way they ‘should’ move Mac Pro assembly jobs to the US?

To me, it just makes sense to keep the engineering in the US and most of assembly in Asia.