At this point this is a cliche.
There's tons of countries with much cheaper labor.
The reasons we build in china are not related to cheap labor, this hasn't been the case from quite some time.
There's tons of countries with much cheaper labor.
The reasons we build in china are not related to cheap labor, this hasn't been the case from quite some time.
It's cheap, yes. I can indeed buy 1,000 of something more locally or from other than China.
But when it comes to scale, needing vast shipments, then they are the ones who can actually ship it and do it reliably. It just also happens to be cheaper, too, which is more of a convenience or cherry on top, than the actual attractive part: vast scale.
Three or four decades of proven ability to deliver, trusted relationships.
Even despite all the political noise.
I don't think trust has much to do with it
They're reliable, but would you really trust them?
I think there's a bit of nuance there to differentiate the 2 though.
Maybe I'm jaded from working with overseas factories though in ways others wouldn't be.
So not really a good comparison
When you have the design it takes away alot of the need to even reverse engineer in the first place
Trust implies shared values/worldview and past experiences where outcomes match expectations. Also respect.
Trust is not possible when there are regularly incongruous outcomes, or where definition of respect / values are just aren't aligned.
Do you think your counterparts overseas believe themselves to be as trustable as you are, and it's just a cultural rift? Or is that too charitable?
Now that hasn't been the case for more than a decade. The cheap labor is in SE Asia and South America.
What China has is decades of process improvement, factories, infrastructure, experience, and a willingness to work. They haven't been the cheapest, by far, for a long while.
I recal, the 1980s when Japanese manufacturing was dogy as. By 2000 it was the best
The same thing is happening in China
They are very good at everything they do, and getting better. Good.
I definitely remember the sense that Japanese cars posed a real threat to the American auto industry, and in hindsight that seems to have been well founded.
They boomed through the 80s/90s, but then lost their edge as China moved itself up the car manufacturing hierarchy, particularly in EVs.
Same with competing with South Korea, but Japan are coasting a bit.
China is at the start of that curve.
They'll end up diversifying into the rest of the world, but the 21st century will belong to China.
Didn't they lose their edge earlier and because the US togheter with some european nations forced their arm after a trade war to limit their exports, enforce an unfavourable currency regime, etc?
They were not built to last so became unreliable after ~5 years.
That was because in the Japanese market five years as a long time to run a car. Not so in the west
“What do you mean doc? All the best stuff is made in Japan”
“Unbelievable”
Korean manufacturing might've been considered dodgy in the 80s but great by 2000. Taiwan (ROC) went through this also (70s vs 90s, ish?). And now China.
This allowed for China to choose industries it would dominate outside of economic forces. It chose to dominate solar and was allowed to sell panels below raw materials cost in order to kill competition.
In one hand it’s good for world solar, on the other hand this has helped cause the rise of the far right all over the west.
...and poured their savings into the sole investment available, real estate, creating the largest bubble the world has ever seen...
Just Nvidia.