Why iphone assembled in china

The Chinese factory where most iPhones reach final assembly employs , workers. I just asked Siri how many cities in the US have a population higher than that, and the answer was a mere 83 cities -- and that's total population, not workforce. With an average labor force of around 65 percent of the population, only 50 US cities are large enough to provide that kind of labor pool Can you imagine three out of every hundred New Yorkers on an assembly line, cranking out iPhones every day?

Over the past couple of years, we have heard a great deal concerning working conditions at factories owned by Foxconn. The Chinese manufacturing company is responsible for assembling consumer electronics for most of the major vendors out there, including Apple.

Around a fourth of those , people live in company-owned dorms or barracks right on factory property; that's almost 60, people living and working at the factory. It may sound inhumane by American standards, but these jobs are in high demand in China -- so much so that Jennifer Rigoni, former worldwide supply demand manager for Apple, told the New York Times that Foxconn "could hire 3, people overnight. Those are just a couple examples of how the scale, speed, and efficiency of Chinese manufacturing outstrips anything the US is currently capable of.

But the Times' report is full of more evidence, and it's damning. Even though the , assembly-line workers putting part A into slot B could potentially be classified as unskilled labor, the industrial engineers overseeing the process can't be -- and according to the Times, finding that many qualified engineers in the States would take nine months.

Chinese manufacturers found them all in 15 days. With the notable exception of the A5 processor , most of the components used to make the iPhone are also manufactured overseas, many of them within a relatively short distance of the final assembly plant.

Recent changes. Meet a Community Member. Join the Community. Follow Us On Author Help. Green Living. Interior Decorating. Would you like to give back to the community by fixing a spelling mistake? Yes No. On this last point, Duhigg and Bradsher tell the story of Eric Saragoza, an engineer who began working in an Apple factory near Sacramento in Saragoza was soon asked to work hour days and come in on Saturdays.

But, understandably, he wanted to watch his kids play soccer on the weekends. Saragoza's salary was too high for him to take an unskilled job.

And he didn't have the experience and credentials necessary to move into senior management. In , his job was eliminated. Recently, desperate for work, Saragoza took a job at an electronics temp firm. That job paid so little and was presumably so depressing that the now year-old Saragoza quit and is looking for work again. Meanwhile, in Shenzhen, a young project manager named Lina Lin coordinates the manufacture of Apple accessories for a company in the Apple ecosystem.

She makes a bit less than Saragoza made a decade ago as an Apple engineer. After tons of research, The New York Times published a very informative report which covered interviews with both former and current executives at Apple. The reason behind the relocation itself is quite simple — iPhones aren't manufactured in America because they simply can't be. The factory in China where Apple products, specifically iPhones, undergo final assembly has approximately , workers.

In China, an estimated quarter of their workforce lives in company-owned dormitories. These barracks are located on factory property. Many people are living and working at the factory. Such jobs are in high demand in China, and they can hire many people overnight. These examples prove that the measure, speed, and efficiency of Chinese manufacturing surpass anything the US is presently capable of. In addition to the manpower China offers, most of the raw materials used to make Apple products are also manufactured overseas.