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Do you think Apple is drastically underestimating the scale and sophistication required to move their manufacturing? Do you think Tim Cook made a strategic erro

by qqtt 4y ago

Do you think Apple is drastically underestimating the scale and sophistication required to move their manufacturing? Do you think Tim Cook made a strategic error here, owing partially to his lack of understanding of the involvement of these processes? There will be growing pains moving and scaling manufacturing anywhere. The fact that there are early obstacles and hurdles does not mean we should simply throw up our hands and say "whelp, looks like China is the only option, we have no choice but to stick there!". Apple is developing manufacturing infrastructure to derisk their supply chain. Because they have 50% rejection rates for iPhone casings at one particular manufacturing facility in India does not really imply anything other than teething issues with scaling up. The original Financial Times original this blog post is based on fleshes out the issues and obstacles in greater depth IMO and is worth a read: https://www.ft.com/content/0d70a823-0fba-49ae-a453-2518afcb01f9 https://www.ft.com/content/0d70a823-0fba-49ae-a453-2518afcb0...

mattboardman 4y ago
>Do you think Tim Cook made a strategic error here, owing partially to his lack of understanding of the involvement of these processes? Appeal to authority is just speculation at the end of the day. It's just as possible a brilliant CEO with tons of supply chain experience made a mistake or was forced into a bad decision. >The fact that there are early obstacles and hurdles does not mean we should simply throw up our hands and say "whelp, looks like China is the only option, we have no choice but to stick there!". Is anyone saying that? >Because they have 50% rejection rates for iPhone casings at one particular manufacturing facility in India does not really imply anything other than teething issues with scaling up. It does imply at the least that the processes Apple has used in other regions doesn't translate quickly. There are definitely additional questions raised. Is this a labor quality control issue? Procurement? Worse vendors? Or as you speculate, this is all part of the start-up process.
smoldesu 4y ago
> Do you think Tim Cook made a strategic error here Honestly, yeah. Doubling down on China was a mistake, and now there are no easy outs for the hardware side of things. Apple tried manufacturing the Mac Pro in the US, but I doubt the numbers on that added up in the US' favor. Correcting course is the right move to make now, but people were right when they called Apple's Chinese supply chain a deal with the devil. Now the devil has come to take their dues, and the first world is scrambling to make sense of it all. I'm tired of this "4D chess" mindset around Chinese manufacturing. It's bad for everyone but the Chinese government, and you can't pretend like it's a sustainable mindset. Supporting the systematic oppression, sterilization and execution of entire ethnic groups is not worth a new iPhone next year.
- MichaelZuo 4y ago
  [flagged]
  - smoldesu 4y ago
    I'm not the one using ad-hominem attacks to make their argument, so I'm not sure who the bigger troll is here.
    - MichaelZuo 4y ago
      I'm not making an argument? My comment was asking a question, if you were unsure. Have you confused me with someone else?
      - smoldesu 4y ago
        My email is on my profile if you want to ask me a question. You're responding to my comment though.
        MichaelZuo 4y ago
        So 'smol at toast dot cyou' is a real email address? You should probably clarify it on your about page lest other folks think it's meant to be a joke account.
        smoldesu 4y ago
        The domain is real, you can whois it if you're too shy to send an email.
        MichaelZuo 4y ago
        Why do you also write 'Provocateur. Serious discussions only.'? The former seems like it will give people an excuse to not take you seriously. I'm not entirely convinced this isn't an elaborate joke.
jpgvm 4y ago
I believe Apples decision isn't based on viability of moving manufacturing to India but rather requirements of the Indian government to access that market.

by qqtt 4y ago

mattboardman 4y ago

>Do you think Tim Cook made a strategic error here, owing partially to his lack of understanding of the involvement of these processes? Appeal to authority is just speculation at the end of the day. It's just as possible a brilliant CEO with tons of supply chain experience made a mistake or was forced into a bad decision. >The fact that there are early obstacles and hurdles does not mean we should simply throw up our hands and say "whelp, looks like China is the only option, we have no choice but to stick there!". Is anyone saying that? >Because they have 50% rejection rates for iPhone casings at one particular manufacturing facility in India does not really imply anything other than teething issues with scaling up. It does imply at the least that the processes Apple has used in other regions doesn't translate quickly. There are definitely additional questions raised. Is this a labor quality control issue? Procurement? Worse vendors? Or as you speculate, this is all part of the start-up process.

smoldesu 4y ago

> Do you think Tim Cook made a strategic error here Honestly, yeah. Doubling down on China was a mistake, and now there are no easy outs for the hardware side of things. Apple tried manufacturing the Mac Pro in the US, but I doubt the numbers on that added up in the US' favor. Correcting course is the right move to make now, but people were right when they called Apple's Chinese supply chain a deal with the devil. Now the devil has come to take their dues, and the first world is scrambling to make sense of it all. I'm tired of this "4D chess" mindset around Chinese manufacturing. It's bad for everyone but the Chinese government, and you can't pretend like it's a sustainable mindset. Supporting the systematic oppression, sterilization and execution of entire ethnic groups is not worth a new iPhone next year.

MichaelZuo 4y ago
[flagged]
- smoldesu 4y ago
  I'm not the one using ad-hominem attacks to make their argument, so I'm not sure who the bigger troll is here.
  - MichaelZuo 4y ago
    I'm not making an argument? My comment was asking a question, if you were unsure. Have you confused me with someone else?
    - smoldesu 4y ago
      My email is on my profile if you want to ask me a question. You're responding to my comment though.
      - MichaelZuo 4y ago
        So 'smol at toast dot cyou' is a real email address? You should probably clarify it on your about page lest other folks think it's meant to be a joke account.
        smoldesu 4y ago
        The domain is real, you can whois it if you're too shy to send an email.
        MichaelZuo 4y ago
        Why do you also write 'Provocateur. Serious discussions only.'? The former seems like it will give people an excuse to not take you seriously. I'm not entirely convinced this isn't an elaborate joke.

jpgvm 4y ago

I believe Apples decision isn't based on viability of moving manufacturing to India but rather requirements of the Indian government to access that market.