The big Times article on Apple manufacturing was excellent, and Iâll have more to say about it when I have the time. One thing worth noting right away, however, is that the piece is in large part an essay on the economies of agglomeration (pdf, wonkish):
âThe entire supply chain is in China now,â said another former high-ranking Apple executive. âYou need a thousand rubber gaskets? Thatâs the factory next door. You need a million screws? That factory is a block away. You need that screw made a little bit different? It will take three hours.â
The point is that manufacturing plants donât exist in isolation; they benefit a lot from being part of a manufacturing cluster, with specialized suppliers and a large pool of workers with the right skills close at hand. This is the kind of stuff I emphasized in my own work on both trade and economic geography.
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The links in the blogpost provides a better understanding of what's going on overseas.