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macrumors 601
Aug 6, 2015
4,540
5,711
Earth
In your opinion, which one would be a good country then?

I think it is quite tricky to move it away from China at the moment for quite a few reasons - supply chains, inexpensive quality workforce, etc. This is not to say Apple stuff cannot be built elsewhere, but in this case either the prices would go higher, or Apple would need to reduce their profit margins, while keeping the prices similar to how they are now. This would be upsetting to Apple customers and/or shareholders.
 

richard371

macrumors 68040
Feb 1, 2008
3,624
1,808
Who says they want to start a conflict? People in China ≠ Chinese government, same goes for Russia, the US and most other countries around the world.
I don't know I was reading on the news several PRC citizens were chanting "take Taiwan". I know some Chinese people living here that love the PRC and support their govt. A lot of these people are brainwashed by their govts especially when censored like Russia and China. I worked in Beijing and Shanghai and had an interesting convo with some of the people there and they love their govt. This situation is dangerous. The 3 biggest Nuclear powers at their worst tensions in years. What could possibly go wrong? There is a fine line from standing up to someone vs. provoking. I think Nancy's visit did more harm then good.
 
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grayskies

macrumors regular
Nov 9, 2006
135
45
Make America great again?

May I ask, why Apple isn't manufacturing their stuff in the US of A only? Ah, of course, the salary and work is much more expensive in their homeland. So, what to do... what to do? Poor Tim Cook. :eek:;)

There are a lot of reasons for this and they have been documented/reported numerous times.

The below NYT article is from January 2012. It deals with several of these issues. A decade later it is still a fascinating read.

https://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/22/business/apple-america-and-a-squeezed-middle-class.html
 
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avz

macrumors 68000
Oct 7, 2018
1,786
1,866
Stalingrad, Russia
Nancy Pelosi did the right thing when she visited Taiwan. "It's time to bring out the big, big baloons."

The reality is: China is still missing a lot of core competencies and not ready yet to play a complex conceptual political games with the best of them.
 
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rme

macrumors 6502
Jul 19, 2008
292
436
......
As a few others on this thread have said, in the 00s the view was that western companies would get cheaper products with workers who would work longer hours than the USA, Wall Street would see even more profitable USA companies and in turn, a democracy loving middle class would be built in China. So everyone was a winner. 🙄

Post Russia/Ukraine it seems a move of mind bogglingly stupidity to have allowed the USA’s - and indeed the West’s - manufacturing chain to be so dependent on China.

(I’m not American and I don’t mean any disrespect & I guess hindsight is a wonderful thing!).
That's a bit naive I'm afraid. Western governments couldn't care less about human rights and democracy. Otherwise they wouldn't have excellent relations with Saudi-Arabia/Azerbaijan/etc/etc
 
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mikethemartian

macrumors 65816
Jan 5, 2017
1,483
2,239
Melbourne, FL
The real reason for the animosity between the US and China is that Americans don't like competition.
I’m 100% for free trade as long as it results in getting the same products for a better price or better products for the same price but what I am never for is acquiescing to or being beholden to a foreign country and its politics. I don’t care what country they are. I don’t care if they are capitalist or communist.
 

rme

macrumors 6502
Jul 19, 2008
292
436
I’m 100% for free trade as long as it results in getting the same products for a better price or better products for the same price but what I am never for is acquiescing to or being beholden to a foreign country and its politics. I don’t care what country they are. I don’t care if they are capitalist or communist.
Many Chinese feel the same.
 

q64ceo

macrumors 6502a
Aug 13, 2010
525
829
It’s time to get out of China. What more is it going to take?

Only when it starts to effect their bottom line.

Honestly all of us should stop buying Apple products till they leave the PRC. A customer boycott could change their mind.
 
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bluecoast

macrumors 68020
Nov 7, 2017
2,223
2,641
That's a bit naive I'm afraid. Western governments couldn't care less about human rights and democracy. Otherwise they wouldn't have excellent relations with Saudi-Arabia/Azerbaijan/etc/etc
Too true.

I was being a little bit sarcastic there, as obviously the primary motive for setting up a supply chain in China is to lower costs.

Spreading democracy was a bit of a white wash.

Ie none of those pesky unions getting involved re better working conditions and pay etc.

We’ve all been happy - me included - buying products produced in conditions not too dissimilar to British factories in the mid to late Victorian era.

(at least in the 00s - remember the spate of suicides at the Foxconn plants back then?)

We’ve all been happy to drink in the Apple marketing & Apple stores cool minimalism kool-aid and to turn a blind eye to how our phones are really produced.
 

steve333

macrumors 65816
Dec 12, 2008
1,279
909
Its time for a complete break with China. Order manufacturers to move their factories to nations that we are friendly with, such as India and Vietnam.
We are funding their military and way too dependent on a country run by a Dictator bent on controlling Asia.
Enough is enough
 

tongxinshe

macrumors 65816
Feb 24, 2008
1,064
651
This is exactly why the business owners hate the politicians like Nancy Pelosi, Tsai Ing-wen and Xi Jingping. They all just drag the businesses to unnecessary hassles or nightmares for their own political benefits. Any politicians that ever trigger any economical instability for political reasons should be prohibited to public service for life.
 

Apple Fan 2008

macrumors 65816
May 17, 2021
1,424
3,452
Florida, USA 🇺🇸
Nancy Pelosi and I are diametric opposites, but she is in the right here. We MUST stop the appeasement.
Gotcha covered there 👍
 

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Morgenland

macrumors 65816
May 28, 2009
1,476
2,204
Europe
Why can’t Apple ask those supplier companies to move to India and Vietnam? I just don’t understand.
If there was an easy path, Apple and the Western world had taken it straight forward. India has a completely chaotic infrastructure and fundamentally different attitude to work than we know. Moreover, they have been politically quite close to Russia since 1971, so it did not condemn the terrible Russian war against Ukraine.

India still imports almost 100 percent of its semiconductor needs in 2021, it is a developing country that has great difficulty in successfully deploying investments (TSMC).

Vietnam: Apple is already outsourcing iPad production from China to Vietnam. This is one of the first pilot tests, so we can be curious.

Apple tries to react to the political and economic changes in the world with all reasonable possibilities, but this is always difficult - any serious president the world doesn't have to laugh at knows that.

No one can wisely shape the future through compulsory leadership; the world and its societies have become too complex for that. Those who want a simple world are welcome to take refuge in computer games, but should never confuse this with the real world.

TheYayAreaLiving: I know that you personally know that anyway. 😌
 
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Morgenland

macrumors 65816
May 28, 2009
1,476
2,204
Europe
The infrastructure used to exist in the USA.
The U.S. (which, thanks to its current strong geopolitical commitment, is finally being seen favorably again in the world) has not been able to do this on a large scale for decades.

Europe also used to build TVs and radios and cameras and WalkieTalkies, CD-player, HiFi-stuff and similiar, but that stopped at about the same time as the USA, for what felt like eternities.
Your stupid master of puppets sang different songs a few years ago, I hope you didn't believe that.

China has managed to build the complex infrastructure thanks to its authoritative regime and wise investment. America and our Western countries organize things differently, and here only good strenuous professional learning in technical universities and networked thinking can make similar structures succeed.

Stupidity, national arrogance, convenience and simplification are always servants of decay, not of construction.
 
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