Ask HN: Non-Chinese Laptops? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: Non-Chinese Laptops?

#11

Post by solardev » Thu, May 23, 2024, 12:53 AM UTC

I wonder if government procurement/compliance rules might help here? For example the military has a Trusted Supplier program for chips: https://www.acq.osd.mil/asds/dmea/tapo/trusted-supplier-prog...

There's also a government shopping site for approved "MAS IT Schedule 70" desktops and laptops: https://www.gsaadvantage.gov/advantage/ws/search/gss_search and some of those say "Made in the USA", but I'm not sure of the extent of vetting they do of those component parts. They're mostly Dell and HP machines, but those vendors might have special pipelines for getting those special USA machines...? Not sure.

Re: Ask HN: Non-Chinese Laptops?

#12

Post by romerocarlos » Thu, May 23, 2024, 12:56 AM UTC

Maybe you should see the Starlabs laptops, they are assembled, imaged and programmed in the UK. https://starlabs.systems/

Re: Ask HN: Non-Chinese Laptops?

#13

Post by krasin » Thu, May 23, 2024, 1:06 AM UTC

solardev wrote: post #9

krasin wrote: post #2

Fujitsu sells 'Made in Japan' laptops. One place to buy them is Amazon Japan. For example, this one: https://www.amazon.co.jp/Official-LIFEBOOK-WU-X-H1-AZ_WUXH1_...

Are they just assembled in Japan from Chinese-manufactured chips? Do Intel, AMD, etc. even manufacture outside of China anymore?

Intel factories are around the world (US, Europe, Israel, Malaysia), but none in China. See ([1]).

AMD uses TSMC (Taiwan) and GlobalFoundries (USA, Europe, Singapore [2]).

So, answering your narrow question: yes, these chips are manufactured outside of China.

But the answer to your wider question is more complex: supply chain is so globalized that there will always be some components or subassemblies manufactured in China in any laptop, unless it's a state-sponsored multi-year effort to not have any.

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Intel_manufacturing_si...

2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GlobalFoundries

Re: Ask HN: Non-Chinese Laptops?

#14

Post by Spooky23 » Thu, May 23, 2024, 1:31 AM UTC

solardev wrote: post #11

I wonder if government procurement/compliance rules might help here? For example the military has a Trusted Supplier program for chips: https://www.acq.osd.mil/asds/dmea/tapo/trusted-supplier-prog... There's also a government shopping site for approved "MAS IT Schedule 70" desktops and laptops: https://www.gsaadvantage.gov/advantage/ws/search/gss_search and some of those say "Made in the USA", but I'm not sure of the…

That stuff is mostly bullshit. For most products “Made in the USA” means TAA compliant, which means they are substantially transformed in the US.

Translation: they attach the laptop display and hard drive in Texas, and charge 50% more.

Re: Ask HN: Non-Chinese Laptops?

#15

Post by Spooky23 » Thu, May 23, 2024, 1:33 AM UTC

Dell 5400 series devices are made in Vietnam. You too can own a mediocre corporate laptop.

Re: Ask HN: Non-Chinese Laptops?

#16

Post by solardev » Thu, May 23, 2024, 1:33 AM UTC

krasin wrote: post #13

solardev wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are they just assembled in Japan from Chinese-manufactured chips? Do Intel, AMD, etc. even manufacture outside of China anymore?

Intel factories are around the world (US, Europe, Israel, Malaysia), but none in China. See ([1]). AMD uses TSMC (Taiwan) and GlobalFoundries (USA, Europe, Singapore [2]). So, answering your narrow question: yes, these chips are manufactured outside of China. But the answer to your wider question is more complex: supply chain is so globalized that there will always be some components or subassemblies manufactured in…

Thank you for this info! I didn't know that, and am glad to have learned.

Re: Ask HN: Non-Chinese Laptops?

#17

Post by runjake » Thu, May 23, 2024, 3:51 AM UTC

solardev wrote: post #8

runjake wrote: post #6

I'd think that the Apple MacBook supply chain, for better or worse, is about the best and most widely-inspected platform. A potential downside might be that you're limited to macOS or Linux only.

They're still assembled in China... says so on the bottom of mine.

Right, but my point is they’re likely the least worst option, since they have a pretty tightly-controlled supply chain and I can’t think of any viable laptops fully manufactured and assembled outside of China. I don’t think that even Fujitsu laptops meet this criteria.

Re: Ask HN: Non-Chinese Laptops?

#18

Post by LargoLasskhyfv » Thu, May 23, 2024, 4:58 AM UTC

Maybe https://dynabook.com/global/en/index.html ?

Though they seem old and overpriced. Not much left of Toshibas former glory. (For some models only anyway)

edit: https://us.dynabook.com/

Re: Ask HN: Non-Chinese Laptops?

#19

Post by cpach » Thu, May 23, 2024, 5:13 AM UTC

According to this comment from 2023, most laptops are made by Taiwanese companies: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36651016

I don’t know for sure, but if I read that comment correctly, those six companies are turnkey suppliers for the large computer brands.

Re: Ask HN: Non-Chinese Laptops?

#20

Post by onecommentman » Thu, May 23, 2024, 5:27 AM UTC

Sony Vaio?

“Proudly Made In Japan. VAIO, and authentically Japanese manufacturer, can boast of in-house design, manufacturing and support teams. Our level of commitment to Japanese technology and aesthetics that is a hallmark of VAIO’s craftsmanship.”

https://us.vaio.com/pages/why-vaio