> Apple does not want to run it's own manufacturing lines, however they have long been known for buying the manufacturing equipment needed for their manufacturing partners to make exactly the parts they want in the volume they need.

I vaguely recall a story about them buying a controlling stake and the entire production output of the only company capable of making the machine tools to make the aluminium unibody Macbook cases (and maybe also the laser tooling that punches the holes in them for the status LED t shine through)...