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Like anything else that the world procures cheaply from China btw.
by baxtr 1y ago
Like anything else that the world procures cheaply from China btw.
- epolanski 1y agoAt this point this is a cliche. There's tons of countries with much cheaper labor. The reasons we build in china are not related to cheap labor, this hasn't been the case from quite some time.
- hattmall 1y agoCheap labor is still a major factor, but infrastructure is definitely another.
- nandomrumber 1y agoAnd trust, probably the most valuable commodity. Three or four decades of proven ability to deliver, trusted relationships. Even despite all the political noise.
- typpilol 1y agoThe industry basically treats any designs sent to China as a loss since they know it will be duplicated I don't think trust has much to do with it
- gffrd 1y agoI believe Parent is talking about trust in the ability to deliver on promises, not in handling of IP.
- typpilol 1y agoOh I agree. But I'd say trust is the wrong word They're reliable, but would you really trust them? I think there's a bit of nuance there to differentiate the 2 though. Maybe I'm jaded from working with overseas factories though in ways others wouldn't be.
- nandomrumber 1y agoAre you saying you don’t reverse engineer your competitors, and friends, products?
- typpilol 1y agoI'm not contracted out to build a product for these companies or people like a factory would be So not really a good comparison When you have the design it takes away alot of the need to even reverse engineer in the first place
- gffrd 1y agoThat's a good clarification. Trust implies shared values/worldview and past experiences where outcomes match expectations. Also respect. Trust is not possible when there are regularly incongruous outcomes, or where definition of respect / values are just aren't aligned. Do you think your counterparts overseas believe themselves to be as trustable as you are, and it's just a cultural rift? Or is that too charitable?
- melagonster 1y agoIf you know it will happen, it is a part of price.
- blitzar 1y agoChina sent tiktok the the US, the gifted geniuses of silicon valley duplicated it and when their clones were garbage they just took it and said "we own this now"
- numpy-thagoras 1y agoMost of the time, I don't personally look at it as cheap labour because I am just ordering, e.g. 60,000 of something or 100,000 of something else. It's cheap, yes. I can indeed buy 1,000 of something more locally or from other than China. But when it comes to scale, needing vast shipments, then they are the ones who can actually ship it and do it reliably. It just also happens to be cheaper, too, which is more of a convenience or cherry on top, than the actual attractive part: vast scale.
- esseph 1y agoIt's not remotely cheap. A long time ago the cheap labor moved from places like China to places like Mexico, which is one of the reasons so many automotive manufacturing plants there - just a rail ride across the border. Now that hasn't been the case for more than a decade. The cheap labor is in SE Asia and South America. What China has is decades of process improvement, factories, infrastructure, experience, and a willingness to work. They haven't been the cheapest, by far, for a long while.
- worik 1y agoThis I recal, the 1980s when Japanese manufacturing was dogy as. By 2000 it was the best The same thing is happening in China They are very good at everything they do, and getting better. Good.
- lll-o-lll 1y agoJapanese manufacturing was dodgy in the 80’s? I don’t think so. “What do you mean doc? All the best stuff is made in Japan” “Unbelievable”
- kilpikaarna 1y agoThat's the entire point of the joke, yeah. Japanese manufacturing was dodgy in the 50s-60s but great by the 80s. Korean manufacturing might've been considered dodgy in the 80s but great by 2000. Taiwan (ROC) went through this also (70s vs 90s, ish?). And now China.
- usefulcat 1y agoI don't now about Japanese manufacturing per se, but I definitely wouldn't say that finished Japanese products were considered dodgy in the 80s. Sony, Panasonic, Honda, Toyota, various camera brands, Yamaha.. I recall all of those being at least "pretty good". I definitely remember the sense that Japanese cars posed a real threat to the American auto industry, and in hindsight that seems to have been well founded.
- coffeebeqn 1y agoNintendo! That was definitely not their reputation in the 80s it was top notch
- blackoil 1y agoYou are right except off by couple of decades. So 60s to 80s.
- rswail 1y agoJapan was making tin toys in the 60s, by the 80s, they were one of the largest car manufacturing nations and were buying out US factories. They boomed through the 80s/90s, but then lost their edge as China moved itself up the car manufacturing hierarchy, particularly in EVs. Same with competing with South Korea, but Japan are coasting a bit. China is at the start of that curve. They'll end up diversifying into the rest of the world, but the 21st century will belong to China.
- mensetmanusman 1y agoThe older generation made huge sacrifices with no wage growth because the CCP kept the currency low. This allowed for China to choose industries it would dominate outside of economic forces. It chose to dominate solar and was allowed to sell panels below raw materials cost in order to kill competition. In one hand it’s good for world solar, on the other hand this has helped cause the rise of the far right all over the west.
- stickfigure 1y ago> The older generation made huge sacrifices with no wage growth ...and poured their savings into the sole investment available, real estate, creating the largest bubble the world has ever seen...
- chrismsimpson 1y agoAI: hold my beer
- bobthepanda 1y agoReal estate was at one point 25-30% of Chinese GDP. AI is not anywhere close, at least not yet.