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Chinese panels are cheap because they use slave labor to produce them.
by rapsey 4y ago
Chinese panels are cheap because they use slave labor to produce them.
- mkoubaa 4y agoNot fully true. There are incredibly competent manufacturing engineers living there. By a factor of at least 5 over the US
- sremani 4y agoI am not contending Chinese are any shape or form incapable, given the factory floor of the world for a generation they do have best of the best. The issue is State subsidies and Environmental and Labor regulation that is flimsy. Any American company operating on US soil will be uncompetitive from Day 1 trying to follow, Federal, State and EPA regulation. As much as Solar Panels are touted in Environmental community, they are a product of intense chemical process that produces poisonous waste.
- splistud 4y ago[dead]
- peoplefromibiza 4y agoHonest question: so why aren't iPhones cheap? EDIT: thanks for all the answers, IIUC it boils down to "nobody cares if a luxury item from a western company is built on slavery, the only thing that matters is that poor people who built it cannot afford it"
- lemoncookiechip 4y agoBecause they have a half-eaten apple as a logo.
- rcarr 4y agoBecause you’re not just paying for a physical device. You’re also paying for the software that runs on it which is best in class. And before people start saying it’s not, how many people are running 7 year old androids compared to iPhones? In USD, A brand new iPhone, kept for 7 years works out at 32 cents a day - phenomenally cheap for something integral to modern day life. And that’s not even taking into account you can most likely sell it for $50/$100 at the end of that seven years, making it even cheaper.
- peoplefromibiza 4y ago> how many people are running 7 year old androids Ironically, me. I changed the battery last year, it costed me 13$ (~12 euros), it is as good as new. Now it might be that my Android phone is Chinese as well, so it actually costed me less than 10¢ a day. Even if I had to replace my Android smartphone, I could have changed it 3 times in the past 7 years and still spend less than buying an iPhone that lasted me 7 years. I could still easily sell it for 30-40 euros, making it even cheaper.
- rcarr 4y agoSo you've edited your comment to bring up slave labour for some reason, so obviously your Android phone and your $13 battery are all ethically sourced right?
- passwordoops 4y agoBecause people are willing to pay the price point. In places I've been, rule of thumb for pricing is usually 3x BoM. I've heard (sorry no reference, just word of mouth) Apple targets at least 5x. Side-note: if anyone believes the idea that companies pass savings to the consumer... Well I have a nice bridge in Brooklyn they might be interested in
- nroets 4y agoBecause Apple sets the price according to what people are willing to pay. The price isn't directly related to the manufacturing cost or the development cost.
- themitigating 4y agoIs that true? In India I thought I read how people have fake iPhones because of what a luxury symbol it is. That purchasing one for the vast majority of people is out of the question. There must be some limit to how low it can be sold for.
- bialpio 4y agoI have experienced a culture shock after moving to the US and looking at prices for some items. The best summary I have is "in USA, the thing is worth as much as people are willing to pay for it", unlike the previous mindset I had, roughly "take the cost of producing something and add X% markup" where X is not too high.
- catiopatio 4y agoWhere did you come from? What you’ve described is specific to humanity, not the US — “the thing is worth as much as people are willing to pay for it” is a near universal truth.
- bialpio 4y agoPoland. I think folks there are more price-sensitive and it helps keep the prices at a more reasonable level. Coming from Poland, my price-setting approach would not take into account how much something is worth to the customer, just how much it cost me to produce + low double-digit percent markup.
- landemva 4y agoAnd significantly less burdensome manufacturing pollution rules. The West exported manufacturing pollution to developing countries and named it 'free trade'.
- adrianN 4y agoHow many people actually work in a solar panel factory? I'd expect that to be almost completely automated.
- catiopatio 4y agoWhy would you expect that?
- adrianN 4y agoBecause solar panels are quite simple and robots are cheap?
- catiopatio 4y agoExcept that neither of those things are true.
- adrianN 4y agoManufacturing cars is highly automated and cars are a lot more complex than cleverly arranged sand with some wires glued to it.
- catiopatio 4y ago> “cleverly arranged sand with some wires glued to it.” Let me guess — you’ve sat at a desk for your entire career?
- adrianN 4y agoNice argument, now I'm totally convinced.