Apple Inc. May Have Different View On Trump’s iPhone Manufacturing Plans

Updated on

Apple does not mind making Trump furious. The U.S. President has been targeting Apple’s low-energy and economically-sensible overseas manufacturing since the beginning. Even though the iPhone maker has so far stayed away from this debate, recent comments from CFO Luca Maestri suggest that the U.S. firm has no plans of closing up shop in China any time soon, according to BGR.

No clarity yet on Apple’s overseas manufacturing plans

In response to a question about overseas manufacturing at a Goldman Sachs conference, Maestri said, “One of the points that we are making in Washington is the fact that we have been a very large contributor to the US economy during the last decade. We made billions of investments in the United States. In the last 10 years, we created about 2 million jobs in this country — in the developer community in our retail stores in our call centers and through the supplier chain.”

Maestri then talked about Apple’s U.S.-located call centers, adding that speculating on Apple’s manufacturing plans is really difficult, especially when Trump hasn’t outlined any specific policies. He did note that imposition of a border tax on imported products would lead to an additional burden on the end consumer.

This could also mean that Apple is making yet another attempt to take iPhone manufacturing off the table for discussions with Trump. It seems that the iPhone maker does not mind taking back ancillary services, such as support centers, back to the U.S., but it doesn’t want to move the entire iPhone supply chain, notes BGR.

Apple’s iPhone manufacturing has been in the news for quite some time now. Reportedly, Apple asked its subsidiaries to examine the feasibility of iPhone manufacturing soon after Trump’s electoral victory. This led Breitbart to run an (untrue) story: Silicon Valley Bows to Trump: Apple to Build iPhones in America.

Apple back on top in smartphone wars

Meanwhile, for the first time in the last eight quarters, Apple has taken the lead over Samsung to become the world’s top smartphone vendor. According to Gartner, during the crucial holiday season, the U.S. firm shipped the most smartphones, but it only enjoys a razor thin lead over the Korean firm.

As per Gartner’s estimate, the U.S. firm shipped about 77.04 million smartphones in the fourth-quarter, just ahead of Samsungs’s 76.78 million. Based on this, Apple’s share in the global smartphone market is 17.9%, while that of Samsung is 17.8%. This is the smallest difference recorded by Gartner, according to CNBC.

Leave a Comment