The cost of manufacture is a very small part of the cost of assembling computers. For the iPhone, for instance, it represents less than $10 out of the $240 or s

The cost of manufacture is a very small part of the cost of assembling computers. For the iPhone, for instance, it represents less than $10 out of the $240 or so total cost. Thus shifting production to other another locale with higher costs would not significantly increase the price of the product, and in any case labor costs are going up in China as well. Thus you wonder why more production isn't being shifted from China to, say, Thailand, Indonesia or India. Steve Jobs once said the industrial capacity to do the work simply isn't available outside of China, in terms of skilled people and supply chains, and that may be a big reason why.