“Designed by Apple in California, assembled in China“, Yippee a sign that we can find in many products signed by those from Cupertino. And it’s true, because much of the engineering work (hardware and software) and design is done on the American West Coast, but for many years, the mass production processes of the fruits of this work have been developed in huge, very high-level factories in the Asian giant.

Although it was already known in recent years, because the company does not hide it We experienced two episodes that clearly showed this relationship., in which Apple relies heavily on China to maintain its production levels and costs. One was the effect of the 2020 pandemic, which caused a one-month delay in the launch of the iPhone 12 in October of that year (when, as you well know, September is usually the month chosen for this purpose), and the second was the deterioration of relations between China and the United States during Trump administration, a blow that was particularly noticeable in the technology sector.

In this last regard, many expected Biden’s arrival in the Oval Office to bring about a return to normalcy in bilateral relations between the two countries, but now that more than three of the four years of his term are up, it appears that not what voltage remains highperhaps not with the verbal belligerence of years ago, but for practical reasons.

So in this situation, Tim Cook recently gave an interview to China Daily in which acknowledges that China has the most critical supply chain for Apple. In this publication, Cook recalls that the business relationship between the American company and the Asian country began almost thirty years ago, and acknowledges the enormous technical development of the factories that currently exist in the Asian giant. These statements were made in connection with an exhibition organized by Cupertino at its headquarters in China, where some of its suppliers were present.

In recent years, mainly due to the complex geopolitical situation, Apple has made some efforts to try diversify its supply chain geographically, with India as the main bet in this sense. However, it is necessary to take into account the huge investments made in China by all stakeholders (government and local companies, as well as technology companies such as Apple) to substantially increase their technical level.

So and as part of this exhibition it was announcedBYD Electronics’ entry into Apple’s supply chain, which will be able to count on a workforce composed of, among others, more than 10,000 specialized engineers and more than 100,000 technical employees. also specialized.

The big question, of course, is Would Apple still turn to China if it had options in other countries with better relations with the United States? The answer is most likely no. However, it would be unfair not to finish the answer without realizing that this alternative does not exist as of today.