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You do not really have much manufacturing in the EU. What you have is people working on the design of things that are manufactured in China. Just like the US, w

by rsj_hn 6y ago

You do not really have much manufacturing in the EU. What you have is people working on the design of things that are manufactured in China. Just like the US, which in terms of value-add is the world's largest manufacturer, but in terms of actually manufacturing stuff, not so much. There is also some final component assembly (but that is not a major portion of value add), it is used to capture subsidies and claim that stuff is "made in X" when it is assembled from parts made all over the world. The problem is that this is critically depending on IP -- e.g. your designs not being stolen -- and also there are some industries where manufacturing knowledge is the value-add rather than the design. In those situations, Europe can't compete because the factories are elsewhere. America suffers from the same issues and is also falling behind, so this is a general issue with "the west".

dijit 6y ago
If you’re interested you should really take a trip to Eindhoven, NL. Plenty of actual fabrication of electronics is happening there.
- arp242 6y ago
  I have the impression it's a a lot less than there used to be though; when I was young Philips manufacturing was everywhere. Just 25 years later ... not much of it left. There does seem to be a shift from actual manufacturing to other industries. Not that this is a bad thing as such, and it's not like it's all gone. Also, because a lot of these companies don't produce the latest shiny gadget or manipulative abusive online website that would be literally illegal such as Facebook or Uber (both of which have little actual "innovation" outside of the business model), some people (Americans especially, it seems) seem to think Europe is some backwater where no actual high-tech industry is done, all the while typing on their computer made possible by companies such as ASML, FEI, Neways, and many more. Shrug.

by rsj_hn 6y ago

dijit 6y ago

If you’re interested you should really take a trip to Eindhoven, NL. Plenty of actual fabrication of electronics is happening there.

arp242 6y ago
I have the impression it's a a lot less than there used to be though; when I was young Philips manufacturing was everywhere. Just 25 years later ... not much of it left. There does seem to be a shift from actual manufacturing to other industries. Not that this is a bad thing as such, and it's not like it's all gone. Also, because a lot of these companies don't produce the latest shiny gadget or manipulative abusive online website that would be literally illegal such as Facebook or Uber (both of which have little actual "innovation" outside of the business model), some people (Americans especially, it seems) seem to think Europe is some backwater where no actual high-tech industry is done, all the while typing on their computer made possible by companies such as ASML, FEI, Neways, and many more. Shrug.