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Apple has a couple moves for cornering the supply chain. Sometimes they work with manufacturers to develop specialized hardware under the terms that they will o
by jobu 9y ago
Apple has a couple moves for cornering the supply chain. Sometimes they work with manufacturers to develop specialized hardware under the terms that they will only be used to build Apple products for a certain timeframe (usually a couple years IIRC).
Apple also uses some fairly specialized, extremely high-precision equipment that only a few companies in the world have the skill to manufacture. Apple has enough purchasing power to buy up all of the capacity that those manufacturers can produce for years at a time, and in doing so they lock out competitors from using that equipment.
It's possible, but seems really unlikely to me that Tesla has the capacity or purchasing power at this point to corner the supply chain like Apple does.
- yumyumyumyumyum 9y agoI'm interested in learning more about this. Could you links some resources, especially around the manufacturing equipment?
- snowwrestler 9y agohttps://blog.bolt.io/no-you-cant-manufacture-that-like-apple-does-93bea02a3bbf https://blog.bolt.io/no-you-cant-manufacture-that-like-apple... https://www.engadget.com/2011/08/04/apples-hold-on-metal-chassis-supply-chain-hinders-competition/ https://www.engadget.com/2011/08/04/apples-hold-on-metal-cha... Discussed here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2848283 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2848283 > When Apple's iPhone4 was nearing production, Foxconn and Apple discovered that the metal frame was so specialized that it could be made only by an expensive, low-volume machine usually reserved for prototypes. Apple's designers wouldn't budge on their specs, so Gou ordered more than 1,000 of the $20,000 machines from Tokyo-based Fanuc. Most companies have just one. http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/10_38/b4195058423479.htm http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/10_38/b41950584...