If you’re curious to know why Apple doesn’t manufacture iPhones in the US, the NY Times has the answer.

What does China offer that the United States doesn’t?
Small hands, a massive, seasonal work force and millions of engineers.
Young Chinese women have small fingers, and that has made them a valuable contributor to iPhone production because they are more nimble at installing screws and other miniature parts in the small device, supply chain experts said. In a recent analysis the company did to explore the feasibility of moving production to the United States, the company determined that it couldn’t find people with those skills in the United States, said two people familiar with the analysis who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
I’m sorry, but what? Let’s just reduce an economic issue to the physical characteristics of the work force. I suspect that skill and training and having good tools is more of a contributor to the ability of the Chinese work force, and the greatest virtue to an American capitalist company is the price of their labor. Despite my massive, sausage-like hands, I managed to do delicate microsurgery and single-cell work on insect nervous systems because I practiced a lot and had a beautiful hydraulic micromanipulator and an excellent microscope.
Do you think the Republican anti-education initiatives might reduce the availability of engineers? Don’t worry about the American electronics industry. All we have to do is hire delicate-fingered women at significantly lower wages, and legalize child labor.
No worries: https://newo.ai/apples-revolutionary-plan-robots-to-replace-half-of-iphone-assembly-workforce/
“In a significant shift towards automation, Apple Inc. announced plans to reduce its reliance on human workers for iPhone assembly by 50% in the coming years. This strategic decision, disclosed on June 28, 2024, aims to enhance efficiency and mitigate risks associated with labor disruptions, following challenges faced at Foxconn’s assembly plant in 2022.
This initiative, led by Sabih Khan, Apple’s senior vice president of operations, and Peter Thompson, vice president of operations, underscores the tech giant’s commitment to leveraging Intelligent Agents and Digital Employees to enhance production efficiency. By collaborating with manufacturing partners like Foxconn, Luxshare Precision, and Pegatron, Apple has successfully automated complex tasks such as installing metal brackets and printed circuit boards.”
[take 2]
Sausage-fingered USAnians? Well, fear not — many Chinese-Americans are available!
“About 4.7 million Chinese Americans lived in the United States as of 2022, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau. They account for 19% of the nation’s total Asian American population.”
Chinese folks have been in the US for close to two centuries. My vague recollection is railroad work and being thanked with exclusion laws. The kinda racist show Kung Fu with a white actor in place of a Chinese actor (like Bruce Lee) ironically touched on some of this maybe?
So there are plenty of Chinese-Americans who have roots here much longer than many (most?) of my ancestors.
As for the more recent Chinese migrants the hospitality continues. Texas is probably not alone with the xenophobia:
https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2025/05/08/bill-that-would-ban-chinese-citizens-from-owning-property-in-texas-faces-crucial-vote/
I’m reminded of an awkward moment or two on Texas set King of the Hill as the white characters didn’t quite understand that another family was Laotian. There’s a history of postwar Vietnamese people settling in Texas too.
As for small hands there are some instances when they are an asset, like reaching into very cramped spaces, but I fail to see how Chinese women are the go to group for that. In 2016 wasn’t there a whole thing about hand size between Trump and Rubio? Which of those two would do best retrieving something from a small nook or cranny or working in the engine bay of most subcompact cars without peeling off chunks of skin?
The Yew Nork Slimes (along with most of the rest of the mainslime media) are often sources of horrible bigoted articles. We live in a country that now elevates and venerates deceit and lies as ‘normal’ and acceptable. UUGGGHHH! The mindset of those that are running this death spiral country makes it difficult not to vomit. We are living in a lawless, megalomaniacal, christo-fascist, plutocratic police state!
Perhaps the NYT is using ‘young’ in combo with small hands to imply child labor; something that has definitely happened in iphone production in the past? In any case it is cheap labor with the necessary skill set that the companies are looking for (and ideally not unionized). I note that Foxconn, the company that does much of the manufacturing has most of its factories in China but is quite international with factories also in Brazil, India, Czech Republic, Mexico, and Wisconsin (the last might have in part to appease Trump in his first term). The Wikipedia article on Foxconn is interesting reading (as always check sources).
Small hands? Maybe Trump could assemble iPhones.
It’s always gonna amount to “blame labor” if they’ve any stupid-ass reason to present’t as such.
When I have to assemble things with very tiny parts my fat fingers use things like magnetised jewellers screwdrivers, fine tweezers, pearl catches, pin vices and small crocodile clips to hold and manipulate parts. I’d gladly assemble small electronic items but they’d have to pay me more than a Chinese factory slave.
This is a very ad hoc article.
It also isn’t very believable.
There are millions of Asians already living in the USA.
There are at least 20 million Asians in the USA.
How many Asians with small hands does the USA need to make Iphones anyway?
And do they have to be Chinese?
My Latina friend from the Caribbean isn’t very tall and has tiny hands.
Out of 346 million US people, Apple should be able to find enough tiny hands.
Those tiny female Chinese hands seem to be replaceable anyway.
A month ago, Apple was going to move Iphone production to India.
It doesn’t take much thought to realize that the main advantage of Iphone production in China is a skilled workforce that gets paid a lot less than US based labor would get.
Skilled cheap labor.
garydargan, actually, China is no longer the cheap labour it once was, so that competitive advantage is pretty much gone; it’s, as noted, the skill set of the workforce.
In particular relation to the USA, Mexico is a shitload cheaper.
So, yeah, cheaper than the USA, but much pricier than, say, Vietnam.
cf. https://www.logisticsmgmt.com/article/global_labor_rates_china_is_no_longer_a_low_cost_country
Tiny hands, eh?
One wonders how the Swiss watchmakers managed with their big ole clumsy European paws!
Racism is so hard to avoid & so common sadly.
Everyone, every form of media.
We’re all steeped and soaked so deeply in it
We amost all always need to be aware of it -and fight it. Inourseleve sas wellas in others.
It generally for most us wypl esp takes an active effort to be actively anti-racist. Ain’t easy or comfortable. But worth it.
Becoz the alterative is ___?
^ Spelling fix :
In ourseleves as well as in others.
@david #5:
Trump can’t even spell iPhones.