Apple's overseas supply chain to blame for extensive product leaks

Shawn Knight

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Staff member

Apple is a company that prides itself on developing each new product behind closed doors, sometimes spending months or even years working on a single device. It’s all worth it when it comes time to unveil something new at a media event, but here lately they haven’t been able to swoon audiences like they used to.

The reason of course is that almost all of their new gadgets leak onto the web well before Apple is prepared to show them. They aren’t coming from Apple directly as their on-campus security is tighter than ever. That only leaves one weak link in the proverbial chain – the global supply chain.

It’s along this path that almost every leak originates, according to some Apple employees speaking anonymously with Ars Technica. One employee told the publication that Apple’s secrecy mode is really outdated while another said overseas workers aren’t getting the same level of scrutiny that Apple employees in the US receive.

Inside Apple, secrecy helps to develop team loyalty and project pride. It’s a way to show respect for the hard work done by others. But outside the Apple compound and overseas, the thousands of employees that manufacture Apple goods have zero vested interest in keeping secret the products they are working on.

One employee believes that we will see even more leaks as Apple increases overseas production, making it even more difficult for Cupertino to “wow” customers when it comes time to reveal a new gadget.

"I understand why people leak, because everyone wants to feel important and prove that they know things," one employee said.

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With their massive profit margin they could make the products in America that would help, as if
 
You're going to lose your 'wow' factor with increased market saturation anyway. 'You have the new iPhone x?' 'Me too!' 'Have you heard the latest from Cupertino?' 'Yah, that's like last weeks news.' Unless you can literally keep everything within your own 'borders', and still make a hefty profit, get used to the leaks.
 
Greed will always win out no matter what. It's a nice dream to want Apple to keep it in the US but it is so much cheaper for them to send it out of country. That gives them the greater profit margin. The other thing to ask really is why does Apple even try anymore. It seems all they have done is release the same crap with a different case. I'm not seeing the "innovation" that ppl keep touting. Sure the phone is nice but it's not mind blowing. I'm not wow'd by the i5. Anymore Apple just bores me.
 
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