Comments: What does Apple "American Made" Mean?

As the world's highest-valued high-tech company, Apple's every move has attracted the attention of the whole world. On December 6, Apple announced that it will reopen an Apple Mac production line in the United States. As we all know, most of Apple's products are produced overseas, especially in China. So does Apple's "American Made" mean that its manufacturing jobs will return to the United States in large numbers? Apple made this decision. What is the reason?

When Apple CEO Cooke was interviewed by NBC and BusinessWeek on the 6th, he said that Apple will open a production line for Mac computers in the United States next year. This is the first time Apple Computer's computer production line has returned To the United States. Cooke said that Apple plans to spend $100 million to build this production line in the United States in 2013. The production line will take the form of cooperating with partner companies, and the production line is not only the final assembly of components, but also parts and components. The manufacturing began using the United States. Cooke said that the purpose of Apple’s reopening of the Mac production line in the United States is very clear. It is to create new jobs. Cooke said that moving manufacturing jobs back to the United States does not mean that Apple has the responsibility to create a specific job. Jobs, but Apple does have a responsibility to create this job opportunity. He did not announce which state the line will fall into, nor how many manufacturing-related jobs the line will increase in the United States. But he said that Apple has created more than 600,000 jobs. These jobs include employment opportunities provided by Apple's partners and suppliers.

Many people in the industry believe that Apple's move is very symbolic. They believe that under the premise that the U.S. government promotes employment, many Apple parts have already been manufactured in the United States. Therefore, it is also necessary to move the product line back to the United States. Reasonable, and as the leader of the industry, Apple's move can be said to play a demonstration role. At the same time, as Asian countries such as China increasingly pay attention to the welfare and working environment of the people, and manufacturing costs have also increased, it is not surprising that Apple considers moving the product line back. However, many people think that Apple's move is only a public relations activity. Recently, Apple's share price has fallen by more than 20% within three months. At the same time, in China, the work environment of foundry factories, such as Foxconn, has attracted the attention of many people. In addition, there are people in the United States who have denounced Apple for outsourcing jobs abroad, all of which have forced Apple to take some actions to restore its reputation.

Apple decided to restart the Mac production line in the United States next year. Does this mean that Apple's manufacturing jobs will return to the United States in large numbers? From a current point of view, there is still a long way to go before the masses of manufacturing jobs are returned to the United States. First of all, Apple's investment in the development of the Mac production line in the United States is only US$100 million. This is a sequel to Apple, the world’s most listed company, and the products it produces are expected to only occupy a very small portion. In addition, the labor cost in the United States is relatively high. Many Apple dealers and partners have already closely followed Apple's decision.

A manufacturer of electronic products in Taiwan, China, said that if Apple really wants to move back a large number of jobs back to the United States, it will greatly increase the cost of the product, and the investment will be ten times or even one hundred dollars. Times, so he took a wait-and-see attitude towards Apple's decision. Coupled with the serious loss of manufacturing industry in the United States in the past 20 years, it is difficult for many companies to find enough manufacturing talent to work. Cook himself once said that he wants to see more Apple products assembled in the United States, but the lack of talent makes this goal very difficult. Although Obama proposed training talents through education, in the short term, it may be difficult to meet the requirements for a large number of US manufacturing industries, especially high-tech product manufacturing.

Therefore, the decision of Apple to return to the Mac production line, the industry does not have to be fussed, Apple's move is more symbolic, in fact, is a response to the criticism of the domestic public in the United States, but also a gesture of the US government's call for promoting employment . After all, as the largest technology company in the United States today, Apple cannot ignore the feelings of the U.S. government and people. However, Apple will never return all its product lines. This is inconsistent with Apple's own interests and violates the laws of the economy. Apple's production of most products still needs to rely on the comparatively low labor force in developing countries such as China. What Apple really needs to improve is the production and living conditions of its factories in Asian countries, and increase the income of its employees in outsourcing factories so as to avoid the infamous “sweatshop” or poisoning of the environment.