An old video of Apple CEO Tim Cook recently went viral on social media platform X. The footage shows Cook claiming that companies didn’t move manufacturing to China to cut down on costs. The reception was…as you’d expect.
Of course, this video is from before Apple started moving manufacturing to other countries like India. Cook said that the common misconception of cheap Chinese labor had long become outdated. He went on to say that the main reason companies were choosing China was because of the “quantity of skill in one location”.
Why this reuploaded video went viral, however, was probably because Elon Musk responded to it. In his usual cryptic fashion Musk responded with just one word: “true”. A heated discussion took place in the comments from people on both sides of the argument.
Some people straight up said that Cook was lying. Others agreed, while adding that they — the U.S. in this case — had fallen behind China. More yet pointed out how today Apple had moved manufacturing to other countries that also provided cheap manufacturing.
Most iPhones made in India were sold locally. | Image credit — PhoneArena
According to Cook, the type of products companies like Apple make require very high skill and complex tools. These companies found China to be the perfect place to move their operations to because of the aforementioned “quantity of skill”.
It’s true that the Chinese industry provides lots of skillful resources to foreign corporations. But I think we can’t deny that Chinese labor has a stereotype of being more affordable. In fact, some of the comments under the video pointed out some very dark truths about working conditions in the country.
There’s also been talk of how major companies moving to China resulted in corporate espionage. To put it mildly, the accusation goes like this: Western companies gave China an advantage in tech just to make a quick buck.
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Musk’s response probably didn’t help matters given the controversy that surrounds him. I did find it interesting though, how old footage like this can still spark divisive debate today.
We’ll have to see if Apple really does need China for its skill set, especially now that iPhones are being banned in certain places within China for cybersecurity.
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Abdullah is an ardent believer in the future of VR, and can't wait to see what more it brings to the table as technology improves. He enjoys covering new software releases in the XR industry, as well as major news about hardware and companies focused on VR.
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