Apple Building iPhone 8 In US? Manufacturing Partner Voices Proposal

Apple’s manufacturing partner Pegatron has already voiced its desire of building the next-generation iPhones — iPhone 8, 7s and 7s Plus — in the U.S. as part of President Trump’s Made in America proposal. However, the company is only willing to do it if the Cupertino giant is paying all the expenses.

On Tuesday, Pegatron CEO Liao Syh-jang revealed that the Taiwanese electronics manufacturing company is open to building this year’s iPhones in the U.S. "As long as there is demand, whether the clients are American or Chinese, Pegatron already has its production lines in place," Liao told Focus Taiwan News Channel. If Trump institutes his Made in America proposal, it will be fine for Pegatron as long the client is willing to absorb the costs."

While Pegatron’s main factories are found in Taiwan, China, Mexico and the Czech Republic, it also has facilities in California and Indiana. Hence, it wouldn’t be a problem for Apple’s main contract manufacturer of iPhones and iPads if it were to move its Apple-related operations in the U.S. As of late, the company’s U.S. facilities only function with HP and Dell’s product orders.

Liao expressed his proposal at an investor’s conference after being asked about his thoughts on Trump’s comments on the need of American companies to build their products within the country. It can be noted that following Trump’s win, there have been numerous speculations on whether or not Apple would move its production in its homeland, as per MacRumors.

Initially, Pegatron did not consider accommodating production shifts due to the expenses that would be involved. As for Apple’s other manufacturing partner Foxconn, it did come up with a plan in light of Trump’s campaign of imposing a 35 percent tariff to products manufactured overseas. However, Foxconn chairman Terry Gou said last week that the company’s main concern here is if the U.S. government is willing to pass regulations and laws that would enable it to create iPhone plants in the country. Furthermore, Gou believes the U.S. lacks skilled workforce for its plants.

Apple CEO Tim Cook addressed Trump’s push for Apple U.S. jobs long before Trump took office. "To make iPhones, there will need to be a cluster of suppliers in the same place, which the U.S. does not have at the moment," Cook said, according Apple Insider. "Even if Trump imposes a 45 percent tariff, it is still possible that manufacturers will decide to continue production overseas as long as the costs together with the tariffs are lower than the amount they need to spend on building and running production lines in the U.S."