Anyone know this answer? How much more would an iPad cost if built in the USA?

[KansasVoter]

I mean build all the components and assemble it here. I don't know if it would be %10 more or %50 more.

I am sure to be called a protectionist, but why in the hell could Apple (or Dell Or HP) come out and say "We are going to build a plant in the USA to build our USA devices" and get a huge PR bump?

Is it only us bleeding heart liberals who would give a damn?

Maybe the manufacturing conditions are so bad in this country that we cannot even build an IPad and components here anymore.

Anyone with a educated guess let me know how much more it would cost. I think I would be damn willing to pay it.

[Donnachaidh]

1. I'm sure these companies factor in tax breaks with the costs of manufacturing

Our government gives them tax breaks for outsourcing jobs.

[nadinbrzezinski]

2. Given that the knock offs, at times using the exact same components

are 150, at times less... yes I have checked... I suspect they could really do this for the same price point right now... just that the profits would be lower.

They are also saving oddles in things like not having to pay some taxes, and not having to care about environmental laws. That is Foxcon's problem, and China has pretty loose regulations.

Oh and let me be clear, this goes for ANY technology company selling crap in the US.

[hedgehog]

6. Don't underestimate "the profits would be lower" as a cause for

going off-shore. Businesses depend on incoming capital; some for next season's supplies and some for expansion capital. If you can make a 10% profit in the States, the bank which is making 15% on a hedge fund will laugh in your face. Come back with a proposal to make a 20% profit off-shore and the bank might give you the money .

Edit: the Walmart variation: force your suppliers off-shore so you can make a larger profit even if you give the consumer a small price cut.

[nadinbrzezinski]

8. And that is a problem at the system level

Isn't it?

It is how we have chosen to do this and develop the economy. Oh and don't forget the tax breaks to move the jobs offshore.

[hedgehog]

9. We really do need to reform the financial sector when it starts

cutting into the "real" economy.

[nadinbrzezinski]

10. Yep, but once I looked at the clones

I went.... there is a problem here...

And I suspect that even with Union Pay and all that... it would not be that serious in the chewing up of the profit margin. That is the canard, and less than 20% of the cost. It is the rest of the externalities that really drive this... taxes, environmental laws and of course the tax breaks.

[Lightning Count]

3. Impossible to calculate.

I heard once that a Chinese furniture maker averages 15 cents an hour compared to a US furniture maker who averaged 15 dollars per hour. That may be some indicator.

[MineralMan]

4. If all the components were made in the USA, probably

200-300% more. Sad, but true. What we need to do is work to raise wages around the world, so there wouldn't be the incentive to export manufacturing to save money. It would also improve the economy worldwide and then you'd be able to afford one.

[OwnedByFerrets]

5. IF all the things we used to build here, WERE built here, most Americans

could afford the higher prices. Its all relative.

[madokie]

7. It wouldn't have to cost us as a customer any more

it would probably cut into the profits a tad though but the fools can't see that if more people are working making a decent wage more people would be able to buy an iPad. Henry Ford figured this all out a hundred years ago with the new fangled production line producing the model T faster than there were people who could afford to purchase one. So what does ole hank do, he starts paying his employers a 5 buck a day wage and soon they were buying the cars they were making. Fools in charge of manufacturing in todays world.

[Steely_Dan]

11. I Don't Know The Answer....But

I can tell you that when I got my last MacBook Pro and saw that it was assembled in China...I was completely disappointed.

I have been a Mac user since they were introduced in 1984. I was (and still am) a huge MacAddict. I promote Apple products all of the time and have for years. Mainly because of their quality and service. Even though PC's have dominated the market, I have always held to my "rebel" belief that Macs are better products. It's sort of like the old VHS vs. Beta debate years ago. There was little doubt that the Beta equipment was superior to the VHS format. Yet, because of price, the entire world had to use an inferior system. I suppose that this is one of the drawbacks of capitalism.

Anyway...I am very disappointed that Apple has decided to outsource at least some of their labor to a another country.

-P

[zipplewrath]

12. That' not how prices work

Products like the Ipad are predominately priced based upon "what the market will bear". The cost to Apple is probably in the $100-$150 range. But they want/need certain profit margins, as do the various resellers. 300% mark-ups are not uncommon in retail. If their production costs go up, their profits go down. At some point their profit margins aren't large enough to support the stock price so the stock price goes down. They either have to sell alot more, or raise the price. It gets to be a vicious circle in that direction though. Raise the price, sell less. There comes an inversion point where sales fall faster than the price rises. They all seek the "sweet spot" where the lower the price to the point where they sell alot of them. Lowering it more won't increase sales as fast as they are losing profit.

[Posteritatis]

13. They'd probably mark it up to a few grand. (nt)

[damntexdem]

14. How much pad would an Ipad pad if an Ipad would pad I?

[leveymg]

15. Here are some cost breakdowns to help calculate the comparative costs, US-China, of producing a PC

What you pay retail is about double what it costs to manufacture a typical PC. The mark-up and profit margin on a high-demand specialty product, such as an iPad, will be a lot higher. Only the cost of manufacture will increase if the components are USA-sourced. So, if the cost to manufacture went up, say, 50%, the retail price would rise only 25%. That $600 Chinese-made PC might cost you $750, if manufactured in Wisconsin of primarily US-made components.

You have to ask yourself, is that too high a price to pay? Personally, if the computer were comparable in every other way, I would gladly pay a 25% premium at the MADE-IN-THE-USA Store. (Cue Springstein)

(FYI - I'm typing this on a DELL)

Retail per unit cost of a typical bare-bones PC today, without software add-ons and accessories: $600
Net profit on retail price mark-up (big box store): (2-10%) - ($12-$60)
Avg. gross retail mark-up (big box store): (10-30%):($60-180)
Post-production costs to manufacturer (marketing, insurance, shipping): (20%) - ($120)
Avg per unit gross value to manufacture - ($300 - $420)
Typical per unit gross profit margin to manufacturer - (10-15%) - ($30 - $64)
Est. cost to manufacture a typical PC (most components purchased from vendors) - ($270-304)

[KansasVoter]

16. I would pay 25% more!!!

[leveymg]

17. Most people would, according to a survey I did here a while back.

I posed this same question here about 5 years ago, and most DUers agreed that they would pay a price premium of 25-35% on major non-essential purchases. A lot of people said, however, they could not afford to pay that kind of markup on essential everyday items, such as food and clothing.

So, I guess Wal*Mart is safe, at least until US wages rise for working folks. But, waiting for that to happen to do something just perpetuates the bigger problem of declining US jobs and wages.

[Prometheus Bound]

18. About 17%

Labour cost would be 20 to 30% of total product cost, I guess.

Overseas transport would be a few per cent, say 5%?

So my guess would be that the cost would be less than 20% extra if produced in the US.

You could work this out more precisely because US manufacturing groups have precise cost breakdowns for various products. I remember doing research on this a couple of years ago, but don't have time to look it up now.

[Bitwit1234]

19. Cost isn't everything just think...

we bought a GE phone. Had it six months guess what the LED display disappeared. Made overseas.

I bought one of those Shark steam cleaners, made overseas had it not even one year and a half and the steam motors gone.

At least when he had stuff made in the USA it lasted.

[treestar]

20. The trouble is, and the whole reason they are made there

You probably aren't really willing to do it. I will get flamed for favoring offshoring, but I'm not favoring it to point out reality. If people can get the same thing for a lower price they will buy it for the lower price. Maybe a few would actually pay the higher price because it was made in the U.S., but there are not enough people like that. If that were the case, the offshoring would not have happened.

People justify shopping at Walmart all the time, saying they can't afford higher prices elsewhere. Then it is tough to argue with them that they shouldn't shop there.

[ThomWV]

21. It would cost exactly what it does now, only Apple's profits would be down a bit.

[JSK]

22. They can only charge what people will pay

If all these idiots standing in line to shell out hundreds of dollars just refused to do so, the companies would be forced to lower the prices if they wanted to sell anything. But maybe that's too easy.

[BlueCheese]

23. I don't think cost has much to do with price.

Apple can sell iPads for $600. Even if they could make them in the US for $300 (and I'm just guessing), they'd still make them in China. Why not, after all? You sell for what you can get. You make it for as little as possible. At least that's my understanding.

[HopeHoops]

24. Nothing. Apple just wouldn't make as much on it.

You think you're paying for the parts?

"You think that's air you're breathing?" -- Morpheus.