Tim Cook risks Trump's wrath with new Apple investment pledge in China

[midian182]

What just happened? Tim Cook has long appeared to toe the Trump administration's line when it comes to China, moving more iPhone production out of the country while pouring billions into US manufacturing. So, the US president might not be too pleased with the promise the CEO just made in Beijing to increase investment in China and further step up cooperation there.

Cook is currently in China for the second time this year, promoting the delayed launch of the iPhone Air in the Asian nation.

Cook made his pro-China pledges during a meeting with Li Lecheng, who heads the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT). The agency said in a statement that the two sides "exchanged views on the development of Apple's business in China and strengthening cooperation in the field of electronic information."

Li said that China's "super-large market" and "complete industrial system" would ensure a favorable business environment for foreign companies, including Apple.

According to remarks released by MIIT, Cook acknowledged the ministry's support and added that Apple would "continue to increase its investment in China and further enhance the level and quality of its cooperation with Chinese partners." There were no further details on the size of the investment or what increasing cooperation with China would entail for Apple.

Apple has been looking to appease Trump and avoid the worst of the tariffs by pledging to invest billions into US manufacturing over the next four years. There was the promise of a $500 billion package in February, an amount that was raised to $600 billion in August.

Trump might not be smiling when he hears Cook's comments

Trump had wanted all aspects of iPhone manufacturing moved to the US, but the logistical, time, and financial issues of such a move make it virtually impossible – something the president now seems to accept.

iPhone export volumes from China have dropped as India's increase – China's were down 72% year-over-year in April – as Apple redirects more US-bound production to India. Trump once warned Cook about expanding iPhone assembly in India, too, but he seems to view it in a better light than Chinese manufacturing.

Cook's comments come at a time when China and the United States' relationship hits a low point. The world's two largest economies are in the midst of a trade war that has seen China tighten rare earth exports, which could threaten the global chip supply (though Taiwan disagrees), while Trump has threatened to hike tariffs on Chinese imports.

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Tim Cook risks Trump's wrath with new Apple investment pledge in China

 

[candle86]

Apple is bucking to be banned for us government employees I'm guessing

 

[Theinsanegamer]

They cant make the phones here because they cant find screws, but they can make them in india. Make it make sense.

 

[Kashim]

They cant make the phones here because they cant find screws, but they can make them in india. Make it make sense.

Sure, I'll make it make sense. In America people expect to make $30/hr with full benefits and paid vacations just for screwing in tiny screws. In Inida/China they get paid $3/hr or less with no benefits. You Trump voters can moan and whine about it all you want, but that's the reality of it.

 

[Theinsanegamer]

Sure, I'll make it make sense. In America people expect to make $30/hr with full benefits and paid vacations just for screwing in tiny screws. In Inida/China they get paid $3/hr or less with no benefits.

In America, Apple sells ~72 million iphones per year.
In India, with a population of 1.451 billion (~4.2x the population) Apple sold 12 million.

Apple made $93 billion in profit last year. I think they can afford to pay workers to buy their overpriced slabs of glass to produce phones for their largest market.

Apple also stated the reason they couldn't build phones in the US was that they couldn't find parts, like screws. Apparently in india, this isnt a problem?

You Trump voters can moan and whine about it all you want, but that's the reality of it.

Whining about Trump while justifying slave wages is certainly a take. A take you should have kept to yourself instead of polluting the forum.

 

[onebignerd]

Trump is a bully, stuck in the economy of the 1950s, using tariffs to bully corporations to bring manufacturing back to the U.S. Ignoring the facts that product prices would double or triple given U.S wages, plus the costs and years of infrastructure and construction time required to even begin manufacturing in the U.S!

Most importantly the lack of people willing to do monotonous assembly line work, not to mention the technical qualifications needed to run these high tech fabricating plants. The U.S does NOT have the qualified personnel to meet these needs or for the automation that would be required to be competitive! We lack the people qualified for many of the IT employees needed like security, database management\administration and server administrators not to mention nursing and other science and healthcare qualifications that have been in sharp decline for decades.

With college tuition sky rocketing in triple digit percentages each year, earning a degree is only for the rich! Yet more and more even manual labor jobs are wanting a degree. Unsustainable!!

Where is all this money he "claims" to be bringing in with these tariffs going?

 

[Theinsanegamer]

Trump is a bully, stuck in the economy of the 1950s, using tariffs to bully corporations to bring manufacturing back to the U.S. Ignoring the facts that product prices would double or triple given U.S wages, plus the costs and years of infrastructure and construction time required to even begin manufacturing in the U.S!

Most importantly the lack of people willing to do monotonous assembly line work, not to mention the technical qualifications needed to run these high tech fabricating plants. The U.S does NOT have the qualified personnel to meet these needs or for the automation that would be required to be competitive! We lack the people qualified for many of the IT employees needed like security, database management\administration and server administrators not to mention nursing and other science and healthcare qualifications that have been in sharp decline for decades.

With college tuition sky rocketing in triple digit percentages each year, earning a degree is only for the rich! Yet more and more even manual labor jobs are wanting a degree. Unsustainable!!

Where is all this money he "claims" to be bringing in with these tariffs going?

We are not willing to train people to do these jobs. There's plenty of people willing to do IT, but companies want someone 30 years old with 50 years of experience willing to make 20 year old wages. Overseas, employers TRAIN employees on tools and software.

Colleges have gotten fat on the back of the US taxpayer, nobody is willing to cut them off or force them to cut costs. Everyone wants it to be "free" with no understanding of what that means.

Funny how Trump is a bully for using tariffs to try to force manufacturing back to the US, but India does the same thing and people say....nothing. Kinda like walls, it's OK when israel does it but if the US does it? Whoa boy here we go. You HAVE to invest in a country if you want to have a strong economy. Nobody wants to pay US workers, but then how do you expect US workers to buy your products? Where are they supposed to get $1900 for a shiny iPhone?

If your product is only profitable using slave labor, your product sucks.

 

[GodisanAtheist]

Cook is just hedging his bets.

Between just general mismanagement of the US and now Trump's uniquely shitty social/political/economic agenda it looks like we're headed for a Chinese century and Western corpos don't want to be sitting on the sidelines.

Remember folks, corpos have no culture, they have no morals, and they have no nation. They will do business wherever it is "greener" if you catch my meaning.

 

[Norsiiii]

If your product is only profitable using slave labor, your product sucks.

Oh, every product can be 'profitable' no matter how how the input-costs of its production are - it merely needs to be priced higher to account for it. If YOU wouldn't buy a product that is priced how it needs to be priced in order to cover non-slave wages, as you put it, then thats YOUR fault, not Apple's

You can act all high and mighty as you like in the comment section, but at the end of the day you'll be the one baulking and moaning about how much things will cost when entirely produced domestically

See Destin Sandler's attempts to manufacture a simple grill scrubber entirely in the USA - it ended up needing to be priced at $75 and thats without any corpo profit margin or overheads

 

[Mr Majestyk]

Right on cue the maga mouthpiece pops up with the reality distortion field in full effect.

 

[Mister_K]

In America, Apple sells ~72 million iphones per year.
In India, with a population of 1.451 billion (~4.2x the population) Apple sold 12 million.

Apple made $93 billion in profit last year. I think they can afford to pay workers to buy their overpriced slabs of glass to produce phones for their largest market.

Apple also stated the reason they couldn't build phones in the US was that they couldn't find parts, like screws. Apparently in india, this isnt a problem?

Whining about Trump while justifying slave wages is certainly a take. A take you should have kept to yourself instead of polluting the forum.

Well said.This has nothing to do with Trump or no Trump support. This is to do whats right for your own country. You hit the nail of the head!

 

[pnntmp]

It's time to replace Cook.

It's not only the insane investments in a rogue country ... Apple hasn't launched a notable product for years, and AI -related failures come so fast that it's not possible to even count them.

iPhone still sells well ... just like Nokia did in 2007, but five years later it was gone. With Cook, Apple will be gone in five years too.

 

[dangh]

It's time to replace Cook.

It's not only the insane investments in a rogue country ... Apple hasn't launched a notable product for years, and AI -related failures come so fast that it's not possible to even count them.

iPhone still sells well ... just like Nokia did in 2007, but five years later it was gone. With Cook, Apple will be gone in five years too.

Apple is a public company. They can do whatever they want. Unless you fot a fascist or communists government which can't stand free market. Or if you think market is free only when benefits you.

 

[Theinsanegamer]

Oh, every product can be 'profitable' no matter how how the input-costs of its production are - it merely needs to be priced higher to account for it. If YOU wouldn't buy a product that is priced how it needs to be priced in order to cover non-slave wages, as you put it, then thats YOUR fault, not Apple's

You can act all high and mighty as you like in the comment section, but at the end of the day you'll be the one baulking and moaning about how much things will cost when entirely produced domestically

See Destin Sandler's attempts to manufacture a simple grill scrubber entirely in the USA - it ended up needing to be priced at $75 and thats without any corpo profit margin or overheads

Swing and a miss, I already pay a premium for domestic products when they are available. My clothes are US made, by a union shop no less! The more industry gets outsourced, the more expensive it gets to try and keep it domestic.

The longer you invest in products made in sweatshops, the worst off you will be in the future.

Right on cue the maga mouthpiece pops up with the reality distortion field in full effect.

Trump Derangement Syndrome in full effect. I hope one day you wake up and smell the roses.

It's time to replace Cook.

It's not only the insane investments in a rogue country ... Apple hasn't launched a notable product for years, and AI -related failures come so fast that it's not possible to even count them.

iPhone still sells well ... just like Nokia did in 2007, but five years later it was gone. With Cook, Apple will be gone in five years too.

Apple's stock price is doing great. There is no reason to replace Cook unless he wants to leave. Apple had a market cap of $377 billion when he became CEO. Today they're worth $3.7 trillion. That is a near perfect 10x of valuation in 14 years.

Same reason Nadella still heads MS despite destroying so much of the work MS did in the 2000s to not be the hated redmond giant.

 

[GodisanAtheist]

Swing and a miss, I already pay a premium for domestic products when they are available. My clothes are US made, by a union shop no less! The more industry gets outsourced, the more expensive it gets to try and keep it domestic.

The longer you invest in products made in sweatshops, the worst off you will be in the future.

-Ehhhhhhhhhhhh how do you know they're actually fully and unambiguously made in the USA? Hopefully not the joke of a "Made in the USA" sticker, yeah?

 

[maxxcool7421]

China can and should block all exports for 90 days... the US economy would crater in 40.. then beg on their knees in 90. there is 100% zero way to ''go back to the 60's'' as all these republikans remember the good old days of amerika...

never happen because of republikan deregulation and offshoring of industry we are where we are today. now they all sads... well fake sad as they make money on both sides now exploiting china and us '''manufacturing fake startups''', you know those 'promisies to build X and then never full build it but get communist USA tax cuts and grants'''