How about that! First Ford, now Apple, gets the message from the strong horse:
Could Apple start making iPhones in the United States? According to a report from the Nikkei Asian Review, the Cupertino, California-based company requested that Foxconn and the other iPhone manufacturer explore moving their smartphone production stateside.
“Apple asked both Foxconn and Pegatron, the two iPhone assemblers, in June to look into making iPhones in the US,” a source told Nikkei. “Foxconn complied, while Pegatron declined to formulate such a plan due to cost concerns.”
But the change wouldn’t come cheaply, according to the report. “Making iPhones in the US means the cost will more than double,” Nikkei’s source said.
No kidding. But giving your customers job might be a handy work-around, even though the punters on Wall Street would no doubt hate it.
President-elect Donald Trump has said he wants Apple to move manufacturing to the United States, and he has also called China a “currency manipulator” and said he would impose tough trade tariffs on their exports. A Chinese publication, the Global Times, recently warned that a trade war between the two countries would, among other things, harm iPhone sales in China.
“US auto and iPhone sales in China will suffer a setback, and US soybean and maize imports will be halted” should there be a 45 percent tariff on Chinese exports to America, the Global Times said. “China can also limit the number of Chinese students studying in the US.”
Gee, that’s too damn bad. But, as Yogi Berra once said, “predictions are hard, especially about the future.”
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