The Trump administration continues to pressure Apple to move its iPhone production to the United States, ignoring analysts who say the move would result in Apple customers paying $3,500 for an iPhone.
On Monday, Trump administration trade advisor Peter Navarro claimed Apple CEO Tim Cook is personally responsible for Apple dragging its feet on the project.
“Going back to the first Trump term, Tim Cook has continually asked for more time in order to move his factories out of China,” Navarro told CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street.” “I mean it’s the longest-running soap opera in Silicon Valley.”
Unfortunately, it’s not an easy process for the Cupertino company to move iPhone production to the U.S. It would be an extended and lengthy process for this to happen and that it would result in iPhone’s costing upwards of $3,500 at the retail level.
First of all, U.S. companies have been moving production of their product offshore for more than half a century. This means the the infrastructure is no longer in place to quickly ramp up iPhone production. Plus, it would take quite a bit of time to educate and train workers, thanks to the U.S. economy becoming more service-oriented in place of its former manufacturing-focused economy.
Unfortunately,since the late 1950s and early 1960s, U.S. firms have worked to move production of their products out of the country, with the tacit permission of every Presidential administration over the last half-century or so.
Navarro has also claimed that automation and artificial intelligence will allow Apple to quickly ramp up iPhone production in the U.S., while keeping labor costs down. However, using AI and automation would result in a large reduction in the number of workers required for the manufacturing process. So, just how much of a benefit would moving iPhone production stateside would there be?
The discussion continues…
