The world’s big factory no longer wants to make iPhones: young Asians demand better wages and more prosperous life plans

China has been for years the place where absolutely everything to do with electronics was made. They were fast, good, efficient, cheap and obedient. It is something inherent in their culture, although over the years and generations, Things are changing, it seems that this is the case, and Apple does not stop convincing.

It’s not something exclusive there, you see it all over the world. In Spain, there are fewer and fewer farmers and more office workers in the United States. In the United States, the countryside is more abandoned than ever, and in the rest of the West, it is the same. It is the result of a professionalization of society, which It trains and demands jobs that meet what you are looking for. This makes this relocation of production to China that was previously the norm, increasingly expensive, and Apple is already turning to other countries.

China’s days are numbered

We need to understand China’s history to understand why all this is happening. It is a country that has suffered for years from famines, diseases, wars, etc. Its economy lived on agriculture and had little to do with the West then or with itself today.

In 1982, its GDP was $205 billion. Today, it is $8.3 trillion. That’s a growth of 4,048%. In this same time space, The illiteracy rate fell from 35 per cent to 3.85 per cent.. This is no coincidence, they have simply been able to optimize their resources. They were not a people with studies, nor particularly demanding with education, but they were numerous, they behaved well with small objects, their cost of living was low and their labor regulations non-existent. This is how they became the factory of the world.

Most parents have the main goal of their children living a better life than theirs, and China has been no exception. Those who initially lived in the factories, saved and passed them on to the next generation, until They arrived at the first one who had enough in their pocket to study.. From an anthropological point of view, it is interesting to analyze it.

Today, China is facing the consequences of its own demographic development, that is, this generation of children studied through the efforts of parents, grandparents, great-grandparents and great-great-grandparents. They don’t want to take their place. It stands to reason that when you have a degree in mathematics and physics, low wages don’t attract as much attention. And what do we do now? Well, let’s go with music somewhere else, they say in Apple.

Apple moves to India and surrounding areas

Manufacturing in China is becoming unprofitable. Always There are fewer workers willing to offer their services under these conditions. Factories need to modernize with windows, cafeterias, relaxation areas, free food, rest hours, and even rooms to sleep in for a while. This prevents staff leaks, but also significantly increases their costs, and Apple doesn’t like that. “La pela es la pela”, which is said.

Those in Cupertino decided it was better to go somewhere else. Specifically to countries like India, Vietnam, Pakistan, etc. These are places that meet – saving distances – roughly equivalent to what China was a few years ago., and there everything is cheaper. “Vietnam is the new China,” they say in the Business Standard, and they are not entirely wrong.

In any case, you cannot leave China overnight. This other group of countries has not yet assimilated all the processes, and It is a transition that must be done little by little. For example, 50% of all iPhones from India do not meet the standardss of Apple, which is normal and will improve over time.

Everything indicates that the era of cheap production is coming to an end. At least, in China. His place will be taken by others, less developed but with the same desire to grow. The problem as such does not arise now, but when there are no more such countries, what will we do?

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