Despite a trade war between the United States and China and past admonishments from President Trump “to start building their damn computers and things in this country,” Apple is unlikely to bring its manufacturing closer to home。
▲A Tiny Screw Shows Why iPhones Won’t Be ‘Assembled in U.S.A。’(via NYT)(翻译via纽约时报中文网,下同)
《纽约时报》报道说啊,早在2012年,苹果的CEO就宣布,他们要在美国本土制造Mac电脑。
哟……那可是第一次由美国工人自己生产苹果的产品呢!还要在电脑上刻上 “Assembled in USA” (美国组装) 字样,超开心的~
(“It would be the first Apple product in years to be manufactured by American workers, and the top-of-the-line Mac Pro would come with an unusual inscription: ‘Assembled in USA。’”)
只可惜,理想很丰满,现实却很骨感。
抱着“要在自家生产苹果”这一雄心壮志的美国人民,很快就遇到了一个极其尴尬的问题……
——螺丝钉不够啊。
然后,对症下药:美国的工厂赶紧生产螺丝钉啊!
——产得太慢啊。
……折腾了一番,最后的解决方法是:从中国订购螺丝钉。
In China, Apple relied on factories that can produce vast quantities of custom screws on short notice。 In Texas, where they say everything is bigger, it turned out the screw suppliers were not。
The screw shortage was one of several problems that postponed sales of the computer for months, the people who worked on the project said。 By the time the computer was ready for mass production, Apple had ordered screws from China。
▲A Tiny Screw Shows Why iPhones Won’t Be ‘Assembled in U.S.A。’
……何必呢。
更无语的是,苹果还绝望地发现,在美国螺丝钉不仅造得“慢”,还造得“乱”:
Stephen Melo, the owner and president of Caldwell Manufacturing in Lockhart。 Employees of Flextronics, made do with his new machines, although he could not make the exact screws Apple wanted。
A former Apple manager who spoke on the condition of anonymity said similar Apple jobs in China would include a roomful of people working to ensure that all materials were in place for production。
In Texas, it was one worker, who often seemed overwhelmed, the manager said。 As a result, materials were regularly out of place or late, contributing to delays。
On Wednesday a senior Foxconn executive said in an interview that the company would not create a plant manufacturing liquid-crystal display (LCD) panels in Wisconsin, sparking a public backlash in the US。
▲Foxconn in political storm over revised plans for Wisconsin plant (via Financial Times)
富士康方面的说法是,会转而建个类似于“研发中心”的机构。
也就是说,工厂可能不搞了,原本打算提供给蓝领工人的万余工作岗位也悬了。
威斯康星州的人简直无语:当初可是答应给你们富士康40亿美元的税收减免补贴啊!那可都是纳税人的血汗钱啊!这些钱本来可以拿来修路建学校限制阿片药物的啊! (“The people of Wisconsin had to give Foxconn $4bn in tax credits – losing revenue that could have gone to fixing roads, funding schools, or fighting the opioid crisis。”)