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Apple to increase spend with Broadcom to produce billions more U.S. chips

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Re: Apple to increase spend with Broadcom to produce billions more U.S. chips

#41

This seems to be paying lip service to creating a supply chain in the USA. These are not anything like Apple Silicon ARM chips, they are not even Wifi chips?

I figure supply chain migration is an incremental process and any progress is a win. In my mind some of the tech needs genuinely experienced staff and that must be seeded somehow. Note I am talking out of my ass but this is how I see the picture. I have no experience in supply chain or manufacturing :)

I have 15 years experience working in high tech electronics manufacturing (for a global firm with factories around the world, including in the US and China) and can tell you the most difficult thing to manage is the supply chain. For time as much as cost, but if you have to ship a $.10 component 6000 miles to get it to a factory, it's pretty dang inefficient.

That said, you're right about cultivating new experience in younger generations. It's probably not surprising to hear that the majority of factory workers in the US are GenX or older.

Re: Apple to increase spend with Broadcom to produce billions more U.S. chips

#42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No company can plan based on the tariffs. There is zero guarantee that then next government won't revoked them or that the current one won't flip-flop. Local manufacturing doesn't swing on a 2-4 (or 6 or 8) year timescale. There needs to be consistency. The company that moves (or starts) manufacturing here today might get run out of business when/if tariffs are repealed and their competitor already has production lin…

Apple invested 3x the Marshall Plan into China. Imagine if they'd spent that on the US instead.

Probably not much. The US doesn’t have the capacity for high volume manufacturing. We cost too much.

Re: Apple to increase spend with Broadcom to produce billions more U.S. chips

#43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No company can plan based on the tariffs. There is zero guarantee that then next government won't revoked them or that the current one won't flip-flop. Local manufacturing doesn't swing on a 2-4 (or 6 or 8) year timescale. There needs to be consistency. The company that moves (or starts) manufacturing here today might get run out of business when/if tariffs are repealed and their competitor already has production lin…

Apple invested 3x the Marshall Plan into China. Imagine if they'd spent that on the US instead.

Easy to imagine - phones would be 1.5x more expensive than they are now, from get go. The cheap electronics (and goods in large part) have been hallmark of "quality of life in USA" for decades; I still get iPhone and Lenovo laptops 40% cheaper than family members living in Europe.

However, it seems that Americans are so tired of growing prices that they are getting used to paying them. Just yesterday there was an article that summarized oil price drop 40% from when the war cooled down, but prize at the pump went down only 12%. The big oil explains this that people will buy gas anyways, so why lowering the price? I think we will see the same happening with electronics - Apple breaking news on $500B factory spending in USA is mostly because they believe Apple owners will keep buying Apple regardless of the price. They may be right... will see.

Re: Apple to increase spend with Broadcom to produce billions more U.S. chips

#44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The tariffs have been highly destructive to local manufacturing because in the US we mostly build complex things made out of simpler parts which we import. The cost of everything we build simply increased and as a result many businesses selling relatively higher margin, higher complexity products had to scale back or shut down. More to the point, the notion that dollars leaving the country is a real problem is really…

Also, by definition, if dollars left the country then stuff came in. We literally traded bit flips in a database for tangible stuff.

...and then whoever sold us the goods turns around and uses those dollars to bid up US assets. Next time you are bidding for a house, take some time to appreciate just how expensive those bit flips have made things.

It did make it easy to raise capital, though, which is nice.

Re: Apple to increase spend with Broadcom to produce billions more U.S. chips

#45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No company can plan based on the tariffs. There is zero guarantee that then next government won't revoked them or that the current one won't flip-flop. Local manufacturing doesn't swing on a 2-4 (or 6 or 8) year timescale. There needs to be consistency. The company that moves (or starts) manufacturing here today might get run out of business when/if tariffs are repealed and their competitor already has production lin…

Apple invested 3x the Marshall Plan into China. Imagine if they'd spent that on the US instead.

Then all this 3x amount would have had no ROI, China would have outdid the US comparatively.

Re: Apple to increase spend with Broadcom to produce billions more U.S. chips

#46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No company can plan based on the tariffs. There is zero guarantee that then next government won't revoked them or that the current one won't flip-flop. Local manufacturing doesn't swing on a 2-4 (or 6 or 8) year timescale. There needs to be consistency. The company that moves (or starts) manufacturing here today might get run out of business when/if tariffs are repealed and their competitor already has production lin…

Apple invested 3x the Marshall Plan into China. Imagine if they'd spent that on the US instead.

I distinctly remember Apple having produced a video showing off an automated assembly line for PCB production for the original Mac. It's not like they didn't try it.

Re: Apple to increase spend with Broadcom to produce billions more U.S. chips

#47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The tariffs have been highly destructive to local manufacturing because in the US we mostly build complex things made out of simpler parts which we import. The cost of everything we build simply increased and as a result many businesses selling relatively higher margin, higher complexity products had to scale back or shut down. More to the point, the notion that dollars leaving the country is a real problem is really…

> We literally can't lose Who is "we"? Trade deficit dollars are recycled into assets, which compete with exports in the balance of payments. If you have a big house and fat brokerage account, you win big. If you have a job building shit, you lose big. If you have a job building tradeable shit and a low net worth, may god have mercy on your soul. If you want the full economist version, "Trade Wars are Class Wars" by…

We is the country. Yeah, not everyone gets to win the same amount at the same time. The alternative is just maga communism (pathetic).

Re: Apple to increase spend with Broadcom to produce billions more U.S. chips

#48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also, by definition, if dollars left the country then stuff came in. We literally traded bit flips in a database for tangible stuff.

...and then whoever sold us the goods turns around and uses those dollars to bid up US assets. Next time you are bidding for a house, take some time to appreciate just how expensive those bit flips have made things. It did make it easy to raise capital, though, which is nice.

Don’t blame imports for our sclerotic country banning construction nationwide. Plenty of countries have spent billions on new construction in the US and gotten smoked. The buildings still stand though.

Re: Apple to increase spend with Broadcom to produce billions more U.S. chips

#49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No company can plan based on the tariffs. There is zero guarantee that then next government won't revoked them or that the current one won't flip-flop. Local manufacturing doesn't swing on a 2-4 (or 6 or 8) year timescale. There needs to be consistency. The company that moves (or starts) manufacturing here today might get run out of business when/if tariffs are repealed and their competitor already has production lin…

Apple invested 3x the Marshall Plan into China. Imagine if they'd spent that on the US instead.

You fail to understand that Apple investing in China is in their best interest - and then returned back to millions of shareholders. If investing in the USA would be a better ROI, there would be no need for any measures like this to force companies somewhere.

People in favour of tariffs make it seem like the best and wealthiest economy in the world is in a bad shape, and it is completely opposite, while failing to address the inequality issue with the wealth distribution.

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