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And "the full Apple" is still someone else makes the product (Apple purchases iPhones from Foxconn): https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/29/technology/iphone-china

• dependsontheq 8y ago
  Yes but Apple also finances the factories and is deeply embedded. The system might just be the most advanced integrated supply chain on the planet.
  • jonknee 8y ago
    Sure, but plenty of companies actually assemble their own products (like say Samsung).
    • theredbox 8y ago
      Samsung is not just samsung. Samsung is actually many companies working under the same brand and corporate culture. You cant talk about samsung as a single company.
    • threeseed 8y ago
      You're making a pretty pointless distinction though. Apple tells Foxconn how, what, when etc to assemble often using equipment that Apple owns. So the only thing Samsung has over Apple is that they employ those people. And what value is that adding ?
• chrisseaton 8y ago
  > Apple purchases iPhones from Foxconn It sounds like you think that Foxconn develop a new iPhone then Apple turn up to buy them like a consumer! Foxconn manufacture iPhones under a precise contract with Apple, who do the design and plan how they should be built. Apple don’t just purchase them off the shelf.
• jjtheblunt 8y ago
  Apple purchases labor from Foxconn
• chillacy 8y ago
  I was in Shenzhen last week, there are stores where you can go up, pick some battery pack or other widget, buy 1k units, and then have them slap your logo on it. That’s one end of the spectrum. The other is you find a Contract Manufacturer and give them your exact specs. But then of course what tends to happen is that other factories conveniently get your specs after awhile.