I'm almost an old guy (50 in May), I'm the guy who makes the LEGO-compatible iPhone 4/4S and iPod Touch cases (www.smallworks.com)
We recently moved the molds for these out of China, and back to the US, in order to save money. The production costs are nearly equivalent to those in China, and the 6 week 'float' of cash while the product is on the boat is a huge PITA.
tl;dr: I think your boss is wrong.
Re:How U.S. Lost Out on iPhone Work
by JumpCrisscross on Saturday January 21, 2012 @07:53PM
(#3495220)
The cost advantage varies by industry. For some industries 6 weeks on the boat for final product is a lot. For others, every component 6 weeks or so on tens of boats is more problematic.
I agree with the gestalt of your statement, however; painting this with broad brushes, e.g. manufacturing has left the US for good, is simplistic.
Anecdotal, I have had a few items made in China over the years I've replaced with USA made stuff that was much higher quality: my gas grill (going on 7 years of use, chinese one lasted 2 years) and some bakeware I recently bought.
Some things are better from here, some aren't, but lately most of the items I buy from the US are usually higher quality, albeit often much more expensive.
Re:How U.S. Lost Out on iPhone Work
by hello_moto on Sunday January 22, 2012 @06:12PM
(#3498167)
It's not anecdotal and I agree with you: some things are better and some aren't.
Perhaps there were a time in the past (of my boss's life) where made in USA weren't as good as it promised/advertised thus giving way to made in China.
When I grew up in the late 70's and the 80's, a lot of US made stuff seemed to be crap. I think that part or most of the stuff now made in the US is more quality, because it's much more difficult to make cheap stuff and compete with China.
He said that "Made in X" (CA/US, interchangeable) used to be good when they first came out. But quality drop significantly that they weren't any better than "Made in Y" (China, Philippine, Nepal, Srilanka).
Even after you put those gory details, if the quality of the "better-morale" products suck, it won't matter much.
I think we all (everyone in this world) know what it takes to make iPhone by now. But we're trained not to care any more.
Good suggestion, but not sure the perception will change much.