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A Tiny Screw Shows Why iPhones Won't Be 'Assembled in U.S.A.'
In China, you will also find one of Apple's most important markets, and over the last month the risks that come with that dependence have become apparent. On Jan. 2, Apple said it would miss earnings expectations for the first time in 16 years, mostly because of slowing iPhone sales in China. On Tuesday, the company is expected to reveal more details about its financial results for the most recent quarter and its forecast for the coming year.
In 2012, Apple's chief executive, Timothy D. Cook, went on prime-time television to announce that Apple would make a Mac computer in the United States. It would be the first Apple product in years to be manufactured by American workers, and the top-of-the-line Mac Pro would come with an unusual inscription: "Assembled in USA."
But when Apple began making the $3,000 computer in Austin, Tex., it struggled to find enough screws, according to three people who worked on the project and spoke on the condition of anonymity because of confidentiality agreements.
In China, Apple relied on factories that can produce vast quantities of custom screws on short notice. In Texas, where they say everything is bigger, it turned out the screw suppliers were not.
Tests of new versions of the computer were hamstrung because a 20-employee machine shop that Apple's manufacturing contractor was relying on could produce at most 1,000 screws a day.
The company could face more financial pressure if the Trump administration places tariffs on phones made in China — something the president has threatened to do.
(Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Tuesday January 29 2019, @09:35PM (1 child)
These aren't your father's screws. Not only is it required to make them to engineering tolerance, it is also required to make them to a cost tolerance, and for screws of that size that requires machines that aren't found in your father's machine shop.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 30 2019, @12:01AM
Nah, you could do 1000 a day of these on a CNC swiss lathe for $0.25 a piece. The tooling to make them properly with a press would be around $45,000 up front with minimal marginal cost for the screws. The story here is that Apple would sooner delay time to market than pay 20 cents extra at US market rate for the quantity of screws used in prototyping. Apple screwed themselves!