In Resurfaced Video, Tim Cook Explains Why Apple Makes iPhones In China: "Truth Is..."

When Donald Trump launched his tariff war with China, he expressed hopes for major companies like Apple to manufacture their products in the United States. However, industry experts and critics argued that large-scale manufacturing in America isn't practical due to various reasons. Amid this, an old video of Apple CEO Tim Cook has resurfaced on social media, where he explains why Apple continues to manufacture its products in China.

In the video, Mr Cook debunked the common belief that companies flock to China for cheap labour. Instead, he highlighted the importance of China's extensive supply chain, infrastructure, and skilled workforce in supporting Apple's manufacturing needs.

Mr Cook said, "There is confusion about China. And let me at least give you my opinion. The popular conception is that companies come to China because of low labour costs. I am not sure what part of China they go to, but the truth is China stopped being a low labour cost country many years ago."

He further highlighted China's unique advantage in having a large pool of highly skilled workers concentrated in one place. He emphasised that Apple's products require advanced tools and high precision, which China excels in due to its deep tooling expertise. 

"The reason is because of the skill, the quantity of skill in one location, and the type of skill it is. It is like the products we do require really advanced tooling and the precision that you have to have in tooling and working with materials that we do are state-of-the-art," he added. 

Watch the video here:

Tim Cook breaks down why Apple builds in China and why the U.S. isn't ready to replace it yet.

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— Nigel D'Souza (@Nigel__DSouza) April 11, 2025

Mr Cook contrasted this with the US, joking that a meeting with American tooling engineers might not fill a room, whereas in China, "you could fill multiple football fields" with such talent. 

Reacting to the video, one user wrote, "True, it's about scale, speed, and precision. China has a massive pool of highly skilled tooling and manufacturing engineers. It's not just labor, it's a full ecosystem built over decades, with deep supply chains and rapid turnaround that's hard to replicate elsewhere."

Another commented, "Totally agree with Tim. Companies exploited China's cheap labour earlier, but it was China's rapid development of manufacturing tech that took it so ahead of the US and Germany's of the world."

Notably, Apple relies on the vast manufacturing network in China for the mass production of its iPhone and other devices. In recent times, the company has also shifted its focus to other key markets, including India, to diversify its manufacturing base. India's growing electronics manufacturing ecosystem, coupled with government incentives and a large skilled workforce, makes it an attractive location for Apple to set up production facilities.