“In a speech yesterday Donald Trump said he would impose an import tax of 35% on goods such as Apple’s iPhones,” Chuck Jones writes for Forbes. “Without getting into the politics of this lets examine this from two angles: the increased price of an iPhone and the logistics of building iPhones in the US.”
“Assuming that 40% of the 231 million iPhones that Apple sold in fiscal 2015 went to US consumers it would have cost them $6 billion more per year than what they paid if there was a 35% tariff and the iPhones were made overseas,” Jones writes. “One of the main challenges to bringing Apple’s iPhone production to the US is the sheer number of people required to assemble them, manage the processes and supply the components.”
“I believe Hon Hai has 1 million people in China dedicated to building iPhones,” Jones writes. “While Apple would probably develop a much more automated production line in the US (and is probably working on that in China) I believe it would be very difficult to find the number of people required to do this in the US.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: The United States does not have the infrastructure or the labor force required to support the assembly of 100+ million iPhones per year, not to mention the manufacture of disparate iPhone components.
“Those jobs aren’t coming back.” – Steve Jobs, February 2011, when asked by U.S. President Barack Obama why iPhones aren’t made in America
“We sell iPhones in over a hundred countries. We don’t have an obligation to solve America’s problems. Our only obligation is making the best product possible.” — Anonymous Apple executive, January 2012
“The entire supply chain is in China now. You need a thousand rubber gaskets? That’s the factory next door. You need a million screws? That factory is a block away. You need that screw made a little bit different? It will take three hours. — Anonymous former Apple executive, January 2012
SEE ALSO:
Trump: We’ll get Apple to manufacture ‘their damn computers and things’ in the U.S.A. – January 18, 2016
Robots, not people, led Apple to make new Mac Pro in the U.S.A. – January 21, 2014
Former Reagan staffer: Apple has an obligation to help solve America’s problems – April 3, 2012
Don’t listen to us! We are morons who will say anything to get elected.
Too bad the morons they’re saying it to are called voters.
$17,000,000,000,000/7/365=?
?=I think we have bigger problems to worry about.
BS story.
Would this Trump tariff also apply to all CE goods coming out of Asia? That would be a lot more than six billion dollars… and who would that serve – American consumers? Does he seriously think a mere thirty-five percent surcharge would encourage Apple and others to move their manufacturing to America?
Of course those American buyers could just buy from a Canadian retailer, as Canada would not add a tariff and because of NAFTA, no duties at the border. And with the depressed Canadian dollar, a better deal by nearly thirty percent without even considering the tariff! Bring it on Trump! Canada loves you!
By the way, roboticising production is not an option. When I was involved in electronics manufacturing, we tried robotic assembly and it just wasn’t feasible. People are much more “programmable” and “flexible” than robotics.
Cheers!
dmz
It’s not all that grim, that Trump guy who is running for president: “We’re going to get Apple to build their damn computers and things in this country instead of in other countries.”
I guess that means that the blessed computers that Apple build will still be available for the free and civilized world.
Who knows he might even expand his thinking and instead of building a wall between two countries he could build a wall around the entire country to keep the citizens of that country inside the country. I’m sure folks would be lining up to pay for that.
If only increased iPhone prices were the only thing we’d need to worry about with a Trump presidency…
We keep talking about this guy as if he has a snowballs chance in hell of winning the White House.
He has a minority lead in one party that has no intention of nominating him. The only reason the press (who love the ratings) say he is in the lead is because the majority of the Republication party who would rather vote for a democrat than Trump is split up among a thousand other candidates.
And that’s just one party! He has no chance of getting democrats to vote for him.
But TV loves him because he does get ratings.
yes right
Other Steve
we don’t need RUMPEY DUMP to put the USA on the hook for a trillion dollars to install obsolete 2016-2019 assembly lines waiting for the 5nm process to hit a wall – why don’t we first let China go bankrupt on the assembly lines that are amortized 20 years past their useful life, when clean GRAPHENE SOC system on a chip process plants are going to pump out sub 5nm chips domestically while china is left holding the bag. Have patience.
Who cares? As long as the rich keep getting richer.
1) the Story is BS,
2) Hate him all you want, America needs a strong leader,
3) He is the only one with the balls to do anything,
4) get out and vote,
5) and if you really don’t want him, vote
Even if there enough people to do physically do it I’m pretty sure they’d struggle to find enough who wanted to do it. How much more than the tax would the increased wages and other costs (transportation) be?
If Trump were king, perhaps.
But U.S. presidents can’t just wave a wand and levy a tax on their own.
Submit to The Clown.
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