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> It's also true that Apple is very well known for very hard negotiation… No successful company is over-paying suppliers.

Centigonal 3y ago
There's a difference between over-paying suppliers and being literally the best in the world at squeezing suppliers, which Apple is IMO. You can argue (and I will argue) that Apple's skill at squeezing their suppliers while still maintaining reliable supply chains is a huge part of why they're the biggest company in the world (and also why Tim Cook and not Scott Forstall or Jony Ive succeeded Jobs). That squeezing has real human costs, which Apple is insulated from. They've outsourced the majority of their labor (and related liability) to a global cadre of high-volume, low margin suppliers, while capturing most of the value created by that labor by owning the Apple brand and maintaining tight control of information, resulting in an asymmetric risk/reward profile for Apple inc.
- mistrial9 3y ago
  "those who do business with Dell, go out of business"
  - mistrial9 3y ago
    I fail to understand the negative votes (above), Dell did and does exactly what is attributed to Walmart and others in this thread. It is known among manufacturers but held in secrecy like so much in that business. Source: multiple years in used computer industry in California
throwaway09223 3y ago
Successful companies overpay suppliers all the time - especially if they're growing very fast and are focused on scaling growth over cost efficiencies. Large companies who've already scaled up their products are more incentivized to focus on cost cutting.
- geodel 3y ago
  Send this list of overpayers to Wistron. Please help them make some money.
smoldesu 3y ago
> No successful company is over-paying suppliers. If Apple did not over-pay their suppliers, the M1 would not have been manufactured on the 5nm node.
- spiderice 3y ago
  That isn't over-paying. That's paying what they need to get the best. Unless you have some evidence that they paid X for 5nm when they could have paid less.

Centigonal 3y ago

There's a difference between over-paying suppliers and being literally the best in the world at squeezing suppliers, which Apple is IMO. You can argue (and I will argue) that Apple's skill at squeezing their suppliers while still maintaining reliable supply chains is a huge part of why they're the biggest company in the world (and also why Tim Cook and not Scott Forstall or Jony Ive succeeded Jobs). That squeezing has real human costs, which Apple is insulated from. They've outsourced the majority of their labor (and related liability) to a global cadre of high-volume, low margin suppliers, while capturing most of the value created by that labor by owning the Apple brand and maintaining tight control of information, resulting in an asymmetric risk/reward profile for Apple inc.

mistrial9 3y ago
"those who do business with Dell, go out of business"
- mistrial9 3y ago
  I fail to understand the negative votes (above), Dell did and does exactly what is attributed to Walmart and others in this thread. It is known among manufacturers but held in secrecy like so much in that business. Source: multiple years in used computer industry in California

throwaway09223 3y ago

Successful companies overpay suppliers all the time - especially if they're growing very fast and are focused on scaling growth over cost efficiencies. Large companies who've already scaled up their products are more incentivized to focus on cost cutting.

geodel 3y ago
Send this list of overpayers to Wistron. Please help them make some money.

smoldesu 3y ago

> No successful company is over-paying suppliers. If Apple did not over-pay their suppliers, the M1 would not have been manufactured on the 5nm node.

spiderice 3y ago
That isn't over-paying. That's paying what they need to get the best. Unless you have some evidence that they paid X for 5nm when they could have paid less.