For iPhones I don’t quite understand the article. The only thing “made” in China is the battery. The phone is only assembled in China. But all the components are made outside of Chinas. Assembly is much easier to move than manufacturing the components.
Hardly any of the iPhone is made in China. Taiwan is not China. The same is true about Samsung phones, they've almost entirely eliminated China from their manufacturing process. Three times as many Samsung phones are made in Vietnam as in China at this point. Before another five or six years out, barely any non-domestic smartphones will be made in China.
Other phone makers manage to manufacture phones in China without handing all Chinese customer data to the Chinese government. It is possible to manufacture in China without selling to Chinese consumers.
Could someone actually vote with their wallet here and buy an American made — not assembled — phone? (I'm under the impression that the best case is that the parts are fabricated in China and assembled in the US, e.g., Apple phones.)
Are there any smartphones definitely made outside of China? I know that Apple has a new factory in India (or similar) but still does some production in China.
smartphones are "assembled" and "packaged" in China. Most components, or over 90%, in Apple iPhones are sourced from non-Chinese sources; then imported into China for assembly and packaging; then exported out to the world. The world's largest smartphone maker, Samsung, pulled out of China and closed the last factory in 2019 -- they are either made in Vietnam, India, or South Korea.
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