Why Apple can't just move iPhone manufacturing to the U.S.

Fortune

The Trump administration thinks its tariffs on China will push Apple to manufacture its iPhones in the United States, but analysts say that not something that could happen overnight.

Transcript

00:00We have now $7 trillion, think of this, $7 trillion of commitments from companies wanting to go in,

00:09from Apple to many, many companies.

00:11That takes time.

00:12Many from Taiwan.

00:13It takes time.

00:14Of course it takes time.

00:15Well, are you asking me a question or are you telling me, yeah, it takes time.

00:19You know, you got to build a thing called a factory.

00:21Donald Trump's goal of bringing manufacturing back to the United States

00:24could put pressure on the tech sector's already established supply chains.

00:29Companies like Apple manufacture many goods in China,

00:32and moving production isn't as simple as building a new factory.

00:36Their popular conception is that companies come to China because of low labor cost.

00:43I'm not sure what part of China they go to,

00:47but the truth is China stopped being the low labor cost country many years ago,

00:52and that is not the reason to come to China from a supply point of view.

00:58The reason is because of the skill and the quantity of skill in one location and the type of skill it is.

01:07Apple released a statement in February promising to invest $500 billion in the U.S. over the next four years.

01:14But the investments aren't tied to domestic iPhone production.

01:18One analyst says that the cost of an iPhone could shoot up to $3,000 if production was shifted to the U.S.

01:25And that domestic production couldn't be done until early 2028.

01:29Factors like reestablishing labor pools and the building of new sites itself could take years once you factor in permits,

01:36equipment, and actual construction.

01:37Factors like reestablishing labor pools and the power flows.

01:47But if you're interested, I will only go into a building of new sites and see what's happening.

01:50Make sure your checkout process is a little bit cheaper.

01:52If you're interested in building and building this place,

01:55you'll see that the cost of an own company can't be found.

Category

Transcript

Recommended