4 ms·

This is so against globalisation and global trade it‘s not even funny. Totally cool if Apple did this voluntarily, but the only reason they‘re doing it is to pr

by ulfw 8y ago

This is so against globalisation and global trade it‘s not even funny. Totally cool if Apple did this voluntarily, but the only reason they‘re doing it is to prevent high import taxes. India is a huge market. So it‘s all good. Brazil is a good deal smaller and requires the same thing. So does Argentina (and is even smaller). Now imagine every country would do this.

Alterlife 8y ago
In some ways, every third-world country in the world SHOULD do this. I say this as an Indian iPhone user. iPhones are a luxury product. A tax on imported high end electronics is a tax on the well-off. Not only that, it's the best kind - a tax that an end-user can choose whether or not they want to pay.
- tonyedgecombe 8y ago
  In most ways they shouldn't, poorer countries have been doing rather well out of globalisation. If trade wars started all over the world they would suffer the most.
  - sumedh 8y ago
    > poorer countries have been doing rather well out of globalisation. Rich countries as well, lot of pharma drugs sold in the US come from India.
- dis-sys 8y ago
  > A tax on imported high end electronics is a tax on the well-off. According to the latest market research [1] in China, IPhone are mostly used in China by undereducated people with relatively low income, people with decent education & job mostly use Android phones. This is consistent with what I see on daily basis - almost all my friends & coworkers use MacBook Pro + Huawei/Xiaomi phone. If I try really really hard, I can probably eventually list 1-2 friends & coworkers who use iPhone, but like I said, I need to try hard to recall that. [1] https://www.scmp.com/tech/article/2174310/research-highlights-class-divide-between-poor-apple-iphone-and-rich-huawei https://www.scmp.com/tech/article/2174310/research-highlight...
manojlds 8y ago
India makes medicine cheap and iPhones costly. And you are complaining?
sudhirj 8y ago
For non-essential products, yes, I think most developing countries should impose an import tax on non-essential luxuries. In India same rules apply to imported cars as well - which has massively helped local industry because Mercedes, BMW, Audi all have factories here. There's no reason for Apple to get special treatment.
Theodores 8y ago
> India is a huge market. There was a time when the British destroyed the textiles trade in India and made everyone buy stuff made in Manchester. Before that India had 25% or so of the global market. With a billion or so people living in the sub-continent there should be an indigenous mobile phone and eco-system that suits the market better than what Silicon Valley can provide. China can do it, Europe used to be able to do it. It is not as if India is short of highly educated software engineers. If, instead of everyone in India having an Indian mobile phone, everyone has an iPhone then everyone is going to be sending off a portion of their wealth off to Cupertino (even if that money ends up in off shore tax havens). There are national security issues with this, regardless of how well Apple claim they are on the side of privacy. Just for sovereignty reasons the Indian government should be using heir own tech instead of providing incentives for Apple to set up shop.
- kmlx 8y ago
  what's up with so much nationalism coming from India? why would it matter where you're sending a portion of your so-called "wealth" when you're getting something in return? considering the horrific state India is in (high corruption, high poverty, low healthcare, no infrastructure, you name it), the location of where an iPhone is produced should literally be the last thing the government cares about. maybe the value of the potential taxes are too much for the government not to stick their hands in?
  - DJN 8y ago
    It’s because where the money goes is where it circulates, which ultimately affects the GDP. Every dollar that leaves India, Nigeria or any other developing country is one less dollar that can pay for jobs (plumbers, electricians, doctors etc) in the local market. South Africa used to have very restrictive currency export controls partly due to apartheid-era sanctions, and one consequence is that it stimulated domestic production and innovation, perhaps far more than any other African country. They’ve now relaxed those controls but it is arguable that they were necessary at that stage of their economic development.
  - sumedh 8y ago
andy_ppp 8y ago
Even America wants some of the high end manufacturing jobs back...
dalbasal 8y ago
Globalization is a big word. At least in the context of the last few generations, this is not an unusual avenue to globalization. It's pretty much the template followed by auto manufacturing as it globalised, for example.

by ulfw 8y ago

Alterlife 8y ago

In some ways, every third-world country in the world SHOULD do this. I say this as an Indian iPhone user. iPhones are a luxury product. A tax on imported high end electronics is a tax on the well-off. Not only that, it's the best kind - a tax that an end-user can choose whether or not they want to pay.

tonyedgecombe 8y ago
In most ways they shouldn't, poorer countries have been doing rather well out of globalisation. If trade wars started all over the world they would suffer the most.
- sumedh 8y ago
  > poorer countries have been doing rather well out of globalisation. Rich countries as well, lot of pharma drugs sold in the US come from India.
dis-sys 8y ago
> A tax on imported high end electronics is a tax on the well-off. According to the latest market research [1] in China, IPhone are mostly used in China by undereducated people with relatively low income, people with decent education & job mostly use Android phones. This is consistent with what I see on daily basis - almost all my friends & coworkers use MacBook Pro + Huawei/Xiaomi phone. If I try really really hard, I can probably eventually list 1-2 friends & coworkers who use iPhone, but like I said, I need to try hard to recall that. [1] https://www.scmp.com/tech/article/2174310/research-highlights-class-divide-between-poor-apple-iphone-and-rich-huawei https://www.scmp.com/tech/article/2174310/research-highlight...

manojlds 8y ago

India makes medicine cheap and iPhones costly. And you are complaining?

sudhirj 8y ago

For non-essential products, yes, I think most developing countries should impose an import tax on non-essential luxuries. In India same rules apply to imported cars as well - which has massively helped local industry because Mercedes, BMW, Audi all have factories here. There's no reason for Apple to get special treatment.

Theodores 8y ago

> India is a huge market. There was a time when the British destroyed the textiles trade in India and made everyone buy stuff made in Manchester. Before that India had 25% or so of the global market. With a billion or so people living in the sub-continent there should be an indigenous mobile phone and eco-system that suits the market better than what Silicon Valley can provide. China can do it, Europe used to be able to do it. It is not as if India is short of highly educated software engineers. If, instead of everyone in India having an Indian mobile phone, everyone has an iPhone then everyone is going to be sending off a portion of their wealth off to Cupertino (even if that money ends up in off shore tax havens). There are national security issues with this, regardless of how well Apple claim they are on the side of privacy. Just for sovereignty reasons the Indian government should be using heir own tech instead of providing incentives for Apple to set up shop.

kmlx 8y ago
what's up with so much nationalism coming from India? why would it matter where you're sending a portion of your so-called "wealth" when you're getting something in return? considering the horrific state India is in (high corruption, high poverty, low healthcare, no infrastructure, you name it), the location of where an iPhone is produced should literally be the last thing the government cares about. maybe the value of the potential taxes are too much for the government not to stick their hands in?
- DJN 8y ago
  It’s because where the money goes is where it circulates, which ultimately affects the GDP. Every dollar that leaves India, Nigeria or any other developing country is one less dollar that can pay for jobs (plumbers, electricians, doctors etc) in the local market. South Africa used to have very restrictive currency export controls partly due to apartheid-era sanctions, and one consequence is that it stimulated domestic production and innovation, perhaps far more than any other African country. They’ve now relaxed those controls but it is arguable that they were necessary at that stage of their economic development.
- sumedh 8y ago

andy_ppp 8y ago

Even America wants some of the high end manufacturing jobs back...

dalbasal 8y ago

Globalization is a big word. At least in the context of the last few generations, this is not an unusual avenue to globalization. It's pretty much the template followed by auto manufacturing as it globalised, for example.