Reply #22: Foxconn, Quanta, Compal, etc. These companies have existed for some time. [View All]

This is not unique to Apple or iPods. These "assembly" plants exist around the world. (Eastern Europe, Asia, South America, etc). In a given plant you can see many of the "major tech" brands being assembled in different buildings. I know this because I have toured most of these factories operated by the major "assembler's".

Bottom line, this is a global market and companies will move their assembly operations to the places that give them two primary advantages:

1) Cost of labor
2) Cost of tax

The best thing you can do to change this trend is to consume less. Don't buy crap you don't need. And believe me, an iPod is top of the list of things people "Do not" need. I just saw an interview by George Soros in CNBC and one of the points he made was "we americans consume too much". At the end of the day, you don't need a "Razor", an "iPod", a PDA, or the latest gadget. Want is a different thing. If people would make a move back to the basic technologies and leave the "sizzle" alone, there would be a lot less justification for companies to utilize these types of "assembly" plants since these plants are only profitable to a company if they have the volume of sales to support them.

MZr7