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29/06/2019

Mac Pro Production Being Moved To China From The US By Apple: Reports




Mac Pro Production Being Moved To China From The US By Apple: Reports
A recent report published in The Wall Street Journal claimed that the production unit of its new Mac Pro computer is being moved to China by Apple. This decision effectively marks the manufacturing end to the only major product that the tech giant makes in the United States. 
 
According to the report, Apple would be able to significantly reduce the shipping costs of parts from its other suppliers in China by the relocation the US manufacturing unit to a Shanghai-area factory.
 
There has been no comment yet about the news report from Apple – neither has the company refuted the news report.
 
Currently, the desktop computer is assembled in a factory near Shanghai by the Cupertino, California-based company in partnership with contractor Quanta Computer.
 
Since 20-13, Apple has been producing the Mac Pro model in Austin, Texas, in partnership with contractor Flex. That production unit was developed as a part of a commitment by the company CEO Tim Cook on a national television interview worth $100 million. The design and engineering work for the new Mac Pro is made in California and assembled from parts that are sourced from the United States, as with other Apple products, an Apple spokesperson had told the media earlier. "Final assembly is only one part of the manufacturing process," the Apple spokesman added.
 
According to the news report in The Wall Street Journal, the company was facing issues of amassing enough skilled workers who were willing to work at minimum wages for at the Flex's Austin factory. Moreover, Flex had to resort to laying off of workers in Austin because of a drop in sale of the Mac Pro. And according to a former Flex vice president quoted in The World Street Journal, there was only a skeleton workforce left at the factory by last year.
 
There were no comments available from either Flex or Quanta Computer.
 
The Mac Pro is not among the best selling products of the tech giant in contrast to its other products such as the iPhones, iPads and MacBooks. However, the Mac Pro is also amongst Apple’s most expensive products with a starting price of $6,000.
 
But there have been criticisms of Apple for long for overtly depending on supply from China for manufacturing of its products. The currently ongoing trade war between the US and China has put Apple in a tight spot because of the increased tariffs on Chinese imports into the US.
 
The latest round of tariffs by the Trump administration on Chinese imports would hit its competitiveness hard, Apple warned last week in talks with US trade officials. There were also reports about the company contemplating shifting almost one-third of its manufacturing away from China. the reports however also said that implementation of any such decision would take a long time, potentially years because of the hugeness of the manufacturing process of a global company like Apple.
 
"We urge the U.S. government not to impose tariffs on these products," Apple wrote.
 
(Source:wwwcbsbews.com)

Christopher J. Mitchell

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