Major smartphone companies are moving their production units out of China. Is it time for consumers to be more vigilant and support the idea of using “Phones Not Made in China”?
Click to display Smartphone products available on the Not made in China Directory.
For many years global smartphone companies have been producing their products in China. The country has been known for its lower labour and production costs which eventually contributed to the affordability of the phones. However, this has not been true in recent years.
As per REISINGER, 2019, the cost of producing an iPhone increased by 2-3% due to increased labour costs and tariffs imposed by the PCR and lead to an increase in the selling price of Apple phones. In addition, violating labour laws and poor living conditions of workers in China have been pointed out by many human and labour rights foundations which resulted in consumers and companies wanting to reduce their reliance on Chinese goods starting from smartphones.
Countries like Vietnam and India have shown positive signs in terms of lower labour cost, product quality and more friendly business deals. Samsung has made a huge move by opening what it called “the world’s largest mobile factory” in Noida, a city near New Delhi, India, which the company said would help to nearly double its annual capacity in the country (Park, 2019).
Apple produces iPhone parts in countries like South Korea, China, Taiwan, Germany, Japan, and India and has assembling factories around the world. However, the majority of the phones are still assembled in China (“Where Is the iPhone Made? (It’s Not Just One Country!)”, 2021). Google, LG, Sony and Asus have also joined the movement by producing some of their models in countries other than China.
It is clear that these smartphone producers are looking to move all their production plants out of China in the near future. This is our time as consumers to be more vigilant and support them in their approach of not producing phones in china by purchasing non-Chinese smartphones. If the products are sold worldwide, let them be made worldwide as well.
Click to display Smartphone products available on the Not made in China Directory.
