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Bit of nonsense there: > Yamamoto [president of Lexus] should heed what his local peers are doing, and look for ways to move more production offshore. As Apple
by alricb 11y ago
Bit of nonsense there:
> Yamamoto [president of Lexus] should heed what his local peers are doing, and look for ways to move more production offshore. As Apple demonstrates, a widely dispersed supply chain can be quite consistent with premium branding.
Cars and consumer electronics are completely different. Apple products are made of chips made in huge fabs, LCDs made in special factories, PCBs populated by machines, and a bit of special sauce here and there (Aluminium casings, gorilla glass, etc.)
Car manufacturing is just much heavier, just like the products.
- nv-vn 11y agoI also thought the fact that the author was suggesting moving the factories instead of working to fix the problem was pretty non-sensical.
- NamTaf 11y agoHow do you think cars are made? edit: I'm not suggesting you're wrong in saying that the premise of the article is bad, but I'm surprised by your argument between phones and cars.
- alricb 11y agoCars are made with stamping presses and assembly lines; you also need a foundry to cast the engine blocks. All these things are expensive and take quite a while to set up. OTOH, pick and place machines are fairly cheap and can be installed quickly; the R&D to make a phone is huge, but once you're done you can set up production almost anywhere in relatively little time. Obviously it'll be easier if you're close to your PCB and plastic suppliers.
- NamTaf 11y agoApple are using precision optics to select the parts with the right machining tolerances to fit together to minimise interface issues. Those parts are machined to very tight tolerances in comparison to a car. I feel like you're trivialising the complexities of a phone production line.
- alricb 11y agoNo, I'm just saying that large-scale car factories are bigger, louder and takes up more space than consumer electronics factories. Apple does invest quite a bit in its production facilities, but most other manufacturers of consumer electronics don't.