Apple Goes On A Hiring Spree In China

[Flatulo]

4. Of course. They could build a fully robotic factory which would not employ many workers,

but at least the materials would be locally sourced.

I would not expect them to use human hands to build their gadgets.

By the way, the reason that volume manufacturers like locating in China is that the Chinese do NOT automate their processes. They use armies of people (slaves) to perform every step. There is an advantage to this approach - design changes can be phased in very quickly without having to retool a factory.

When I worked at Evergreen Solar, I was in awe of their robotic plant in Ayer, MA. The panels were almost 100% handled by automated stations. Even so, the plant employed 800 people to keep the machines running.

Yet even with such efficient processes and high throughput, they simply could not compete with Chinese factories staffed with 3,000 workers and no automation.

It sucks trying to compete with slave labor.