Apple CEO explained: Why are iPhones made in China?

Apple CEO Tim Cook said that products require advanced tooling and the use of cutting-edge materials and tooling requires precision.

In a recently resurfaced video, Apple CEO Tim Cook is seen explaining the company's decision to manufacture all iPhone models, including the flagship iPhone 16 series, in China, debunking the widespread belief that this is due to low labour costs.

Musk supports Tim Cook's statement

The video clip offers valuable insights into why many global companies, including Apple, have chosen China as their primary manufacturing base despite rising labour costs. ‘The popular understanding is that companies come to China because of low labour costs. I'm not sure what part of China they go to, but the reality is that China stopped being a low labour cost country years ago.’

Stating that the real reason is the skilled labour force, Tim Cook explained the reason for choosing China as the production base as follows: ‘The reason for this is skill, the amount of skill in a location and the type of skill. Team skill is very deep here.’

Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, also expressed his agreement with Cook's views on China's skilled labour force. Musk wrote only ‘True’ in response to the video shared by Historic Vids on X and resurfaced.

This support from another leader of the technology industry underlines China's role in global production in electronics and many other areas. The video of Cook's remarks has gone viral, with more than 6 million views so far, reigniting debate about Apple's manufacturing strategies.