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One example is what you seem to refer to; a solar panel reading made in Vietnam - assembled in Vietnam but by a Chinese owned company with all Chinese component

by chvid 2y ago

One example is what you seem to refer to; a solar panel reading made in Vietnam - assembled in Vietnam but by a Chinese owned company with all Chinese components. Another example is the iPhone reading made in China with a dollar value of 400 but the true value add in China is much lower as all the IP, profit margins, and high value components belong somewhere else. This means that even though these numbers look very unbalanced it is still Western companies that make biggest part of the profit. (At least so far though things are clearly changing with Chinese companies are climbing up the value chain.)

doctorpangloss 2y ago
People buy iPhones for their software, which is all made here. Otherwise all phones are black rectangles. The hardware isn’t that important.
- riskyingo 2y ago
  cool, so no other country except US should buy that crap
- Barrin92 2y ago
  it's the opposite. People buy iPhones and Apple products for the quality of their hardware and the cost of the devices themselves reflects this. Apple is one of the least software focused tech companies in the world. Everyone except for American teens obsessed with the colors of their chat bubbles uses WhatsApp, Telegram or FB Messenger and other completely platform independent apps. Nobody's ever bought an iphone for Apple Maps, everyone runs around with Google software on their phone.
  - wiseowise 2y ago
    > Nobody's ever bought an iphone for Apple Maps, everyone runs around with Google software on their phone. It is still running on Apple platform. I'm buying an iPhone, because I know that I'll get consistent Apple experience that is same across all of my devices, unlike zoo of Android + Windows/Linux.
    - Barrin92 2y ago
      What does that mean? There's no consistent Apple experience across Spotify, Venmo, TikTok and Facebook. There's pretty consistent experiences within these apps across devices, which is what people care about. Nobody cares about their operating system except for that one middle aged developer who loves that his apps look native on his macbook. But that's not why people buy phones.
      - seanmcdirmid 2y ago
        People buy phones for good stable experiences. I’m not sure how it was today, but it was a mess 10 years ago outside of iPhones, and some people would rather pay more for a phone than bother with something by that requires more involvement.
      - wiseowise 2y ago
        If that was the case, then Android would have bigger share in developed countries. > Nobody cares about their operating system except for that one middle aged developer who loves that his apps look native on his macbook. Nobody* cares. * - 34% desktop share and 15% worldwide.
        Barrin92 2y ago
        >If that was the case, then Android would have bigger share in developed countries. How does that follow? I'm saying people buy Apple products for their premium hardware, which rich consumers are more likely to do across all categories. If software mattered, Apple would be losing customers across the board because people spend more and more time in non-Apple software. It's the exact opposite of my claim. >* - 34% desktop share and 15% worldwide. I don't think you even understood what I said to be frank, I didn't argue Apple's marketshare, we are talking about where the value in their poduct is, I didn't argue that people dislike their products.
    - drekipus 2y ago
      > that I'll get consistent Apple experience that is same across all of my devices. a buggy shitty mess? count me in! Things aren't even consistent across mac os updates. I think it's much preferable to keep a phone a phone, and the computer a computer. I only want a macbook because of the hardware. I'd give anything for them to fix the software. but it is what it is.
  - addicted 2y ago
    This comment completely misunderstands why Apple software is important. To be clear, as an f’ing Linux user, the things that make Apple software good, which is consistency, lots of hand holding, and making it really hard to break things badly, are irrelevant to me. But it’s highly relevant to the vast majority of iPhone users in the world.
  - mensetmanusman 2y ago
    Not the opposite. If Verizon had Apple hardware we would have a software nightmare.
- VerminOctopus1 2y ago
  The hardware is extremely important…
phkahler 2y ago
iPhone chips are made in Taiwan. The displays are certainly not made in the US although the glass might be.
- seanmcdirmid 2y ago
  iPhone displays are most definitely made in South Korea. Some of the components are made in Japan as well, not much is made in the USA beyond the software stack (which you are also most definitely paying for since SWEs aren’t cheap!). Also iPhones are made in SEZs (none of the components are tariffed in these zones), so they are tariffed when imported into China. I doubt Trump tariffs will be based on value add. It would be a logistical nightmare, and he doesn’t strike me as someone who thinks too deeply about these things.

by chvid 2y ago

doctorpangloss 2y ago

People buy iPhones for their software, which is all made here. Otherwise all phones are black rectangles. The hardware isn’t that important.

riskyingo 2y ago
cool, so no other country except US should buy that crap
Barrin92 2y ago
it's the opposite. People buy iPhones and Apple products for the quality of their hardware and the cost of the devices themselves reflects this. Apple is one of the least software focused tech companies in the world. Everyone except for American teens obsessed with the colors of their chat bubbles uses WhatsApp, Telegram or FB Messenger and other completely platform independent apps. Nobody's ever bought an iphone for Apple Maps, everyone runs around with Google software on their phone.
- wiseowise 2y ago
  > Nobody's ever bought an iphone for Apple Maps, everyone runs around with Google software on their phone. It is still running on Apple platform. I'm buying an iPhone, because I know that I'll get consistent Apple experience that is same across all of my devices, unlike zoo of Android + Windows/Linux.
  - Barrin92 2y ago
    What does that mean? There's no consistent Apple experience across Spotify, Venmo, TikTok and Facebook. There's pretty consistent experiences within these apps across devices, which is what people care about. Nobody cares about their operating system except for that one middle aged developer who loves that his apps look native on his macbook. But that's not why people buy phones.
    - seanmcdirmid 2y ago
      People buy phones for good stable experiences. I’m not sure how it was today, but it was a mess 10 years ago outside of iPhones, and some people would rather pay more for a phone than bother with something by that requires more involvement.
    - wiseowise 2y ago
      If that was the case, then Android would have bigger share in developed countries. > Nobody cares about their operating system except for that one middle aged developer who loves that his apps look native on his macbook. Nobody* cares. * - 34% desktop share and 15% worldwide.
      - Barrin92 2y ago
        >If that was the case, then Android would have bigger share in developed countries. How does that follow? I'm saying people buy Apple products for their premium hardware, which rich consumers are more likely to do across all categories. If software mattered, Apple would be losing customers across the board because people spend more and more time in non-Apple software. It's the exact opposite of my claim. >* - 34% desktop share and 15% worldwide. I don't think you even understood what I said to be frank, I didn't argue Apple's marketshare, we are talking about where the value in their poduct is, I didn't argue that people dislike their products.
  - drekipus 2y ago
    > that I'll get consistent Apple experience that is same across all of my devices. a buggy shitty mess? count me in! Things aren't even consistent across mac os updates. I think it's much preferable to keep a phone a phone, and the computer a computer. I only want a macbook because of the hardware. I'd give anything for them to fix the software. but it is what it is.
- addicted 2y ago
  This comment completely misunderstands why Apple software is important. To be clear, as an f’ing Linux user, the things that make Apple software good, which is consistency, lots of hand holding, and making it really hard to break things badly, are irrelevant to me. But it’s highly relevant to the vast majority of iPhone users in the world.
- mensetmanusman 2y ago
  Not the opposite. If Verizon had Apple hardware we would have a software nightmare.
VerminOctopus1 2y ago
The hardware is extremely important…

phkahler 2y ago

iPhone chips are made in Taiwan. The displays are certainly not made in the US although the glass might be.

seanmcdirmid 2y ago
iPhone displays are most definitely made in South Korea. Some of the components are made in Japan as well, not much is made in the USA beyond the software stack (which you are also most definitely paying for since SWEs aren’t cheap!). Also iPhones are made in SEZs (none of the components are tariffed in these zones), so they are tariffed when imported into China. I doubt Trump tariffs will be based on value add. It would be a logistical nightmare, and he doesn’t strike me as someone who thinks too deeply about these things.