Microsoft Closes US Surface Factory, Moves Production to China • Hacker News Board

Re: Microsoft Closes US Surface Factory, Moves Production to China

#21

Post by throwaway9870 » Fri, Aug 17, 2018, 10:43 AM UTC

vvanders wrote: post #12

StillBored wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which is apparent to anyone who doesn't have their heads stuck in some spreadsheets. Huge American manufacturing sectors (textiles, electronics, home appliances, etc) which were made in this country 30-40 years ago are no longer made here, or are made here in significantly reduced capacity. So, its possible to talk about how efficient American manufacturing has become, but the average consumer doesn't see that as the…

> ... and john deere tractors Not if they're < 100hp. Those are all made in Japan by Yanmar and rebadged. Ditto New Holland(merged with Ford) which is built by LS. There's not a single company that makes a compact tractor in the US that you can buy.

This is not correct. The Riding Lawn Equipment (RLE) is built in Horicon WI (as are the gators). The compact tractors (one series, two series, etc) are built in Augusta GA. The RLE has almost nothing from Yanmar in it except the diesels use a Yanmar engine. The sub-CUTs and CUTS use a lot of Yanmar components, but are Deere products and assembled by Deere. I have been to both factories and seen the lines in the last few years, they are assembling tractors there.

Re: Microsoft Closes US Surface Factory, Moves Production to China

#22

Post by luma » Fri, Aug 17, 2018, 11:05 AM UTC

It isn't mentioned in the article, but I think it would be reasonable to suggest that a 25% tariff on nearly every component that goes into these devices might have impacted the decision. The alternative is to manufacture the device outside of the US and then importing the completed device with no tariff applied.

Trump's economic policies are doing the exact thing everyone suggested they would, forcing modern manufacturing in the US to move elsewhere or face a 25% increase in component cost across the board.

Re: Microsoft Closes US Surface Factory, Moves Production to China

#23

Post by pjmlp » Fri, Aug 17, 2018, 11:23 AM UTC

winthrowe wrote: post #20

azurezyq wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Screen&flash- South Korea, CPU - TSMC(Taiwan), frames - China. Which high value part are you talking about is made in us?

The software, I would presume. The Snow Crash quote "America makes movies, music, and microcode" has never seemed more true.

I would bet Apple uses offshoring development sites like any corporation on the same league.

Re: Microsoft Closes US Surface Factory, Moves Production to China

#24

Post by fgheorghe » Fri, Aug 17, 2018, 11:32 AM UTC

People still buy microsoft surface?

Re: Microsoft Closes US Surface Factory, Moves Production to China

#25

Post by mmrezaie » Fri, Aug 17, 2018, 11:41 AM UTC

luma wrote: post #22

It isn't mentioned in the article, but I think it would be reasonable to suggest that a 25% tariff on nearly every component that goes into these devices might have impacted the decision. The alternative is to manufacture the device outside of the US and then importing the completed device with no tariff applied. Trump's economic policies are doing the exact thing everyone suggested they would, forcing modern manufac…

It is so sadly funny that the strongest economy in the world can be manipulated so deeply this fast and nothing happens. This makes me want to read more about the Mongols, Romans, and Persians history. This must be a great time to do analytical research on how to measure manipulation of the mainstream opinions about well anything. I like to see some good simulators on the matter. Maybe gaming industry can help!

Re: Microsoft Closes US Surface Factory, Moves Production to China

#26

Post by wedowhatwedo » Fri, Aug 17, 2018, 11:45 AM UTC

luma wrote: post #22

It isn't mentioned in the article, but I think it would be reasonable to suggest that a 25% tariff on nearly every component that goes into these devices might have impacted the decision. The alternative is to manufacture the device outside of the US and then importing the completed device with no tariff applied. Trump's economic policies are doing the exact thing everyone suggested they would, forcing modern manufac…

It isn't mentioned in the article, because the Trump tariffs didn't exist when the article was written.

Re: Microsoft Closes US Surface Factory, Moves Production to China

#27

Post by ams6110 » Fri, Aug 17, 2018, 12:10 PM UTC

pjmlp wrote: post #23

winthrowe wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The software, I would presume. The Snow Crash quote "America makes movies, music, and microcode" has never seemed more true.

I would bet Apple uses offshoring development sites like any corporation on the same league.

Not sure I make the same bet. Generally you don't outsource your core competencies. Design and software are Apple's core competencies. Assembling hardware is not.

Re: Microsoft Closes US Surface Factory, Moves Production to China

#28

Post by pjmlp » Fri, Aug 17, 2018, 12:31 PM UTC

ams6110 wrote: post #27

pjmlp wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would bet Apple uses offshoring development sites like any corporation on the same league.

Not sure I make the same bet. Generally you don't outsource your core competencies. Design and software are Apple's core competencies. Assembling hardware is not.

You might be surprised how many core competencies are done by the major consulting firms.

Re: Microsoft Closes US Surface Factory, Moves Production to China

#29

Post by javajosh » Fri, Aug 17, 2018, 1:01 PM UTC

sanxiyn wrote: post #11

StillBored wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which is apparent to anyone who doesn't have their heads stuck in some spreadsheets. Huge American manufacturing sectors (textiles, electronics, home appliances, etc) which were made in this country 30-40 years ago are no longer made here, or are made here in significantly reduced capacity. So, its possible to talk about how efficient American manufacturing has become, but the average consumer doesn't see that as the…

Re: semiconductor fabs. It is interesting to note that US still holds a lot of cutting edge semiconductor fab capacity, at Oregon, Arizona, and New York.

Even better than fabs, all the good data is held in the US, too.

Re: Microsoft Closes US Surface Factory, Moves Production to China

#30

Post by sokoloff » Fri, Aug 17, 2018, 1:05 PM UTC

ams6110 wrote: post #27

pjmlp wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would bet Apple uses offshoring development sites like any corporation on the same league.

Not sure I make the same bet. Generally you don't outsource your core competencies. Design and software are Apple's core competencies. Assembling hardware is not.

Offshoring doesn't necessarily mean outsourcing.