“Etched into the back of every iPhone are the words ‘Designed by Apple in California. Assembled in China.’ Apple might as well have added ‘Made in Taiwan,’” Ken Belson reports for The New York Times.

“With little fanfare, Taiwan companies are playing a big role not only in the production of Apple’s latest device but in a wide array of other communications equipment,” Belson reports.

“Apple does not discuss which vendors it uses, but news reports in Taiwan said that Hon Hai and Quanta received orders to produce millions of iPhone handsets, reports that those companies declined to confirm,” Belson reports. “Taiwan companies also have a hand in making iPods and iMacs, they said… ‘It’s not a surprise that the iPhone would be made here because the food chains for Apple’s notebooks and iPods are already in Taiwan,’ said Dominic Grant, a telecommunications analyst at Macquarie in Taipei. ‘It’s a natural progression.’”

Much more in the full article here.