4 ms·

>engineering is failing in the west Designed in California, Assembled in China, soon to be Vietnam or Malaysia.

• hkmurakami 11y ago
  And before China, it was Designed in California, Manufactured in Japan. After SE Asia it will be Africa. Then who knows?
  • kalleboo 11y ago
    > And before China, it was Designed in California, Manufactured in Japan. Was it? I wasn't around for that time, but I was under the impression that in the pre-glory days of "Made in Japan" it was still designed in Japan by Japanese companies (which is how Sony, Toshiba, Panasonic got their starts). They didn't have the global manufacturing outsourcing we have today with "Made in China". Whereas these days, any startup Chinese brands have to compete with international brands who can still enjoy the same cost of Chinese manufacturing
    • hkmurakami 11y ago
      There was a lot of this in the PC hardware component / peripheral space in the 70's and 80's. Probably not so much for end consumer devices, like you say.
  • sliverstorm 11y ago
    If the pattern keeps repeating, I speculate the end result is more consistent quality of living around the globe, labor costs would be a much less important differentiator. Country after country that used to be suitable for cheap manufacture has, as it grew & developed, become less suitable than some other country. In the end, quality of living will increase world-wide until the cost of manufacture is roughly equal in all locations. This is perturbed by a variety of costs that make it more expensive to pay an Elbonian worker $10/hr than an American worker $10/hr if the goods are to be sold in America- but it could close the gap dramatically.